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December 4, 2025Father Joseph Uhen rejoiced with the people of Piura, Peru, where he serves as their pastor, when Pope Leo XIV was elected in early May.
The election was personal, for the Peruvians, and for Father Uhen.
It also brought him back to his Oklahoma experience and the influence of Blessed Stanley Rother.
While in formation with the Missionaries of Charity in Tijuana, Mexico, Father Uhen went to Guatemala and studied in Guatemala City, where he heard of the wonders of Blessed Stanley in Santiago Atitlan.
“That was powerful to see and understand,” Father Uhen said. “His ministry, to be among that and to see that, it really was amazing.”
Blessed Stanley influenced Father Uhen’s own missionary work in Peru.
“He was really a guiding light,” Father Uhen said, “and to give his life … that's one of the reasons I came down here. He gave his life serving his people. They were being persecuted and being killed, and he still was there. The shepherd cannot run.”
In Peru, priests were killed and martyred, too.
“That also called me. I said, ‘Well, it's a little bit like going to war. You send in replacements.’ I said, ‘I'm gonna go as a replacement for those who've been killed,’” he said. “And that's sort of what drew me here.”
Some compare Pope Leo’s time in troubled Peru to Blessed Stanley’s time in Santiago Atitlan, hoping the familiarity aids in the cause for canonization for Oklahoma’s own.
“I do, too,” said Father Uhen.
John Helsley is editor of the Sooner Catholic.
Photo: (Above) Fr. Joseph Uhen, who first found a calling the priesthood in the pews of Christ the King Catholic Church, has been serving the community in Piura since 1995. Photo provided.
Chris Engel, pictured with a family in Piura, makes regular trips to help in a variety of ways. Photo provided.