Mary Stachowicz
(1951-2002)

In a recent speech, Bishop Thomas Paprocki said the woman who once worked as his secretary and who was beaten to death by a homosexual man in 2002 “died as a martyr for her faith” and yet received little or no attention from the media.

CNSNews.com is reporting that Bishop Paprocki, head of the diocese of Springfield, Illinois, was speaking at a Jesuit Alumni event when he questioned the extensive coverage given to the murder of Matthew Shephard, who was killed in 1998 partly because he was gay, while no one bothered to cover the murder of Mary Stachowicz, a 51 year-old mother of four and devout Catholic who was beaten, stabbed, raped, and strangled to death by her co-worker, Nicholas Gutierrez on November 13, 2002 after she questioned his homosexual behavior. Gutierrez then wrapped her body in plastic and stuffed it under floorboards of his apartment. He later admitted to the police that he attacked her because she confronted him about his homosexuality.

During the trial, Gutierrez’s attorney presented a stereotypical picture of  Mary’s Catholic faith to make it look to the jury as if she was some kind of religious fanatic who was obsessed with his homosexuality. In an attempt to have Gutierrez convicted of a lesser offense, they even tried to convince the jury that the five-foot-five Mary was the one who attacked Gutierrez, who was a stocky six-foot man.

Thankfully, the jury didn’t buy it and Gutierrez was convicted of murder in 2007 and sentenced to life in prison.

In spite of how blatant this hate crime was, Bishop Paprocki said a Google search for the name “Matthew Shepard” produced more than 11 million hits while a similar search for the name “Mary Stachowicz” yielded just 26,800 results.

“Mary, the gentle, devout 51-year-old Catholic mother of four urged her co-worker, Nicholas Gutierrez, 19, to change his gay lifestyle. Infuriated by this, as he later told police, he allegedly beat, stabbed and strangled her to death and then stuffed her mangled body in a crawl space in his apartment, located above a Chicago funeral home, where they both worked,” the bishop said.

“I know about Mary Stachowicz, not from the Internet, but personally, because Mary was my secretary at the parish where I was pastor before I was named a bishop.

“She worked part time at the funeral home and part time at the parish. One afternoon, she didn’t show up at her usual starting time. This was unusual because she was always on time. A call to the funeral home disclosed that her car was still in their parking lot and her purse with her car keys was still at her desk, but there was no sign of Mary.

“As Mary’s family and friends prayed and worried about her disappearance, Gutierrez prayed with them. Three days later, her mutilated body was discovered in a crawl space in his apartment.

“Both murders were senseless and brutal, and I condemn them both unequivocally. However, the fact that there are over eleven-and-a-half million more Internet stories about Matthew Shepard than Mary Stachowicz indicates where popular sentiment lies today on the question of same-sex relationships.

“Shepard’s story has received such widespread attention because his homosexuality was the chief motive for his murder.

“Mary’s murder was widely ignored by the media, despite the fact that she died as a martyr for her faith.”

He reminded that the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines martyrdom as “the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even unto death” (No. 2473).

In July 2010, Bishop Paprocki gave his official imprimatur to a prayer that describes Mary Stachowicz as “pure of heart and devoted to chastity” and that if it is God’s will, “she be glorified by the Church” as a saint.

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