Meet the three priests who will lead Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine church

Editor's note: Today is the feast day for Blessed Stanley Rother, the Okarche priest who is on the path to Roman Catholic sainthood. As he is celebrated, The Oklahoman is taking a look at the men chosen as pastors of the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine Church.

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Three things stand out to a local priest as he thinks back to two memorable days in May 1981.

The Rev. Don Wolf remembers being ordained to the priesthood, joining the priestly brotherhood of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the worldwide Roman Catholic Church.

The next day, he was the principal celebrant at Mass for the first time — and that was the last time he saw his cousin Stanley Rother alive.

Rother returned to his beloved mission parish in Guatemala shortly after watching his young cousin join the priesthood and celebrate his first Mass as a priest. The Okarche native was murdered by unknown assailants who broke into the rectory of his Guatemalan church on July 28, 1981. He was 46.

More:Rother needs a miracle to become a Catholic saint

Wolf said he and many others who attended his ordination celebration had no idea that spring day of 1981 would be the last time they would see Rother before his death.

Those memories have surfaced as Wolf, 65, prepares for his new role as pastor of the shrine named for his cousin, who is on the path to Catholic Sainthood. When the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine is dedicated in November, Wolf will be there, along with two other priests who will be part of the shrine church clergy team — the Rev. Russell "Rusty" Hewes and the Rev. Brannon Lepak, who will serve as associate pastors.

Each of the three priests said they were honored that Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul S. Coakey felt led to assign them to play vital roles in what Wolf called a new and exciting chapter of the ministry of the Catholic Church in Oklahoma.

Wolf described his new assignment as the "apex" of his pastoral career. Lepak shared similar thoughts.

"I was kind of shocked at first, and then it kind of dawned on me the importance or the magnitude of the assignment," he said.

Hewes also expressed excitement about being one of the three priests leading a newly merged congregation that will regularly worship on the grounds of the $40 million shrine complex.

Each of the men said they do not underestimate the opportunity they will have to help share Rother's legacy with the world.

"The focus will be on the life and ministry of Stan, which is what the shrine is trying to do," Wolf said. "Ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances — that was him. The last thing you expected to do is go to a foreign country and stand up to the military pressure but he did. That example is for everybody — it's to say that holiness isn't reserved for some — it's for everybody."

Wolf said his mother Rose Ann and Stanley Rother's father Franz were first cousins. He said he's happy to know he had a chance to know "Stan" and that they were part of the same family.

That they each chose to follow the Lord and go into the priesthood bonded them in another way.

Wolf said he and Rother also had something else in common. They both spent a large part of their pastoral career ministering to Hispanic people.

Wolf said he's looking forward to continuing that aspect of his ministry as the two predominantly Hispanic parishes in the archdiocese, Sacred Heart and Holy Angels, merge to make up the shrine church congregation.

Coakley said Wolf and Hewes speaking fluent Spanish was a factor in his decision to assign the men as shrine church leaders. Lepak said he didn't consider himself fluent in Spanish but he does speak the language on a regular basis in his ministry work.

Coakley said there was also another important reason he chose Wolf as the shrine church pastor.

"He's a very experienced pastor," the archbishop said. "Of course, he's also a cousin of Father Rother so he brings a special sensibility to who this man was."

Coakley called the three priests "a good team," saying "they'll work well together."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Priests look forward to leading Rother Shrine church in OKC