Bl. Stanley Rother film with Maria Scaperlanda Artwork

Illuminating Catholics

Illuminating Catholics – shedding light to understand the modern church

Welcome to the Illuminating Catholics - podcast of the Diocese of Sioux City. Your hosts are Dawn Prosser, director of Communications for the diocese and Karmen Bower of the Faith Formation Office. We will shed light upon topics of faith in the modern church. Our guests include Catholic clergy, religious sisters and other experts in their fields to help us understand what’s happening in the church today. We will explore issues (even tough ones) and find answers to common questions about Catholicism. Thank you for joining us for today’s Illuminating Catholics – shedding light to understand the modern church. Be sure to subscribe!

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Illuminating Catholics

Bl. Stanley Rother film with Maria Scaperlanda

August 11, 2026 • Dawn Prosser and Karmen Bower • Season 3 • Episode 6

0:00 | 33:20

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María Ruiz Scaperlanda of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City - promoter of the canonization cause for Blessed Stanley Rother, martyred in mission territory of Guatemala where he was ministering in the midst of a civil war. Scaperlanda wrote the biography “The Shepherd Who Didn’t Run: Blessed Stanley Rother, Martyr from Oklahoma,” a widely praised biography of the first American-born priest recognized as a martyr by the Catholic Church. His beatification was in 2017.

A documentary narrated by Martin Sheen, American Martyr - The Stanley Rother Story, hits select theaters in English Aug. 25 and 26 and in Spanish Aug. 27. Find tickets in or near your community HERE.

Learn about the documentary, the cause for canonization, Maria's devotion to Blessed Rother and encouragement to pray for the intercession of Blessed Stanley Rother in this episode. Report a miracle or favor: https://archokc.org/rothermiracle

Maria also shares a message in Spanish in this episode for our Spanish-speaking parishes.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Illuminating Catholics – shedding light to understand the modern church. Follow us for more episodes on topics of the Catholic faith. We are funded in part by Together As One - our diocesan annual appeal. For more news from the Diocese of Sioux City, visit lumenmedia.org.