STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — A Stevens Point native killed because of his Religion during the Guatemalan Civil war will be beatified by Pope Francis.
Catholic News Agency reports the Pope has agreed that James Miller can be declared blessed without an investigation or miracle.
He was shot in February 1982 by three unidentified men after his group had received warning that the Guatemalan government was after them. Miller and his fellow brothers were teaching at a secondary school aimed at helping the poor.
According to CNA Miller was aware of the dangers against him but felt called to press on with his work. In one of his final letters to his family he wrote that he was praying for the strength to serve God faithfully among the poor and oppressed, adding that the Church was being prosecuted because of its opinion of the poor.
Miller was born in the Stevens Point area in 1944 and joined the Catholic brotherhood in 1962. He taught at schools in St Paul, Minnesota and in Nicaragua before moving to Guatemala.
