A priest some consider a modern martyr is on the path to sainthood.

Fr. Stanley Rother was murdered in Guatemala nearly 30 years ago, and his cause has now been sent to Rome.

From Zenit:

Father Rother (1935-1981) was a priest of the Oklahoma City Archdiocese sent in 1968 to work in a Guatemala mission supported by the Oklahoma local Church since four years before.

He served as pastor of the Santiago Atitlan parish, working with the indigenous Tzutuhil people. He translated the New Testament into their language, and regularly celebrated the liturgy in their tongue.

At age 46, on July 28, 1981, he was killed amid the social unrest in Guatemala under a dictatorship that resulted in many people losing their lives in defense of the faith. He was shot by unknown assailants in the rectory of his church.

Father Rother of course knew his life was in danger in Guatemala, but he chose to stay with his people anyway. In total, he served there for more than a dozen years.

In fact, a few months before his murder, Father Rother returned to Oklahoma after having been told he was on a “death list.” He spent time with his family, helping his parents on the family farm. He had a portrait of himself made for them. On Sundays, he would help with Masses.

But after just a few weeks in Oklahoma, he told his archbishop, “My people need me. I can’t stay away from them any longer.” And he returned to Guatemala.

He took more precautions than ever before, changing his bedroom in the rectory to a downstairs room with a heavy door.

But the conflict was intense. Just a few days before his murder, a statement from Guatemalan bishops was read at Sunday Masses, in which the prelates publicly denounced a plan to silence the Church. They decried the government’s inaction in investigating the murder of nine priests and hundred of catechists.

Two weeks later, Father Rother was added to that number; he was shot twice in the head.

When his father was told about the priest’s death, he responded: “We are real proud of him. He felt his people needed him and he went back.”

Read more at the link.

After his death, his body was buried in Oklahoma but, at the request of his parishioners in Santiago Atitlan, his heart and his blood were buried in Guatemala.