Fr. Peter Mary Rookey stands in front of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Superior, where he celebrated his first Mass after ordination, May 25, 1941. The photo was gifted to the entertainer Bob Hope and his wife, Dolores. (Photo courtesty of Tim Rookey)

Jenny Snarski
Catholic Herald Staff

The cause of canonization for a Superior-born priest is on hold, as his Servite order has not yet given their permission to move forward, according to Tim Rookey.

But the nephew of Fr. Peter Mary Rookey, a priest internationally famed for his healing charism, is building the case for the late priest’s sainthood cause through outreach, testimonies and petition.

Life and times

On Sept. 14, 2014, Fr. Rookey, 97, passed away peacefully in his sleep after a good meal with brother priests; there was with a rosary on his chest. It was no coincidence that his funeral was celebrated on Sept. 15, Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, to whom he had been devoted his entire life.

Peter Byron Rookey was born in Superior on Oct. 12, 1916, the ninth of Anthony and Johanna Rookey’s 13 children. Attending Sacred Heart Catholic School, at age 11 he sang for the Mass of Consecration of Christ the King Cathedral in 1927. He left home at age 13 to attend the Servite Order’s Mater Dolorosa Seminary in Chicago’s Hillside suburb, not far from where he is now buried.

Ordained a priest of the Order of the Servants of Mary on May 17, 1941, at Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica, he took the middle name of Mary. Fr. Rookey’s priestly ministry led the Northern Wisconsin boy around the world. He served in Ireland, in Rome as Assistant General of the Order, in Belgium as head of the Servite Catholic College at the University of Louvain and at mission churches in Missouri before being moved back to Chicago in 1984. Hed led dozens of pilgrimages to Medjugorje and the Holy Land and was called a friend by many famous Catholics.

A 1966 Superior Catholic Herald Citizen article, written by Sr. Raphael Marie, SSJ, focused on Fr. Rookey’s friendship with Bob Hope and his devout Catholic wife, Delores. After meeting in Oregon in 1956, the priest was invited to accompany the Hope family to Europe. It’s said that Bob Hope claimed his best jokes came from Fr. Peter. At Bing Crosby’s funeral, the Servite priest was at his side.

Fr. Rookey met St. Teresa of Calcutta, Venezuelan mystic and visionary Servant of God Maria Esperanza de Bianchini, St. Therese of Lisieux’s sister, Celine Martin, and St. Pope John Paul II. While stationed in Rome, Fr. Rookey would take the early train to San Giovanni Rotundo and attend Mass with St. Padre Pio. He went to confession with the saint and was counseled to remember, “Always obedience!”

More impressive than Fr. Rookey’s resume are the hundreds of testimonies of miracles received through the priest’s gift of healing. Close to 200 testimonies are recorded at therookeysaint.org with hundreds more shared anecdotally on Facebook pages: the “Fr. Peter Rookey” and “Fr. Peter Mary Rookey OSM: The Healing Priest Cause for Canonization;” both with thousands of followers.

There are only a few remaining Rookey relatives in the Superior area. One is Rita LaVenture, receptionist at the Cathedral of Christ the King; another the priest’s nephew, Tim Rookey, a graduate of Cathedral and Superior High School. Tim and his wife, Anne, manage the website dedicated to consolidating information, resources and testimonials, as well as 3,000-plus signatures collected since March 2024 petitioning for a cause for the beloved healing priest’s canonization to be opened. He is the subject of several books, with his healing ministry mentioned in many others.

‘Man of Miracles’

According to the biography at therookeysaint.org, Fr. Rookey’s healing gift was discovered in Northern Ireland. He’d been sent with other Servite priests to establish the order there in 1948. Based at the bequeathed Benburb Castle, people would come to Mass and ask for a customary blessing for personal needs and various ailments. They returned the following Sunday with their experiences of healing.

“Word spread,” the Rookeys shared. “Soon there were so many people coming that they had to hold the services outdoors.” They said people wanted a glimpse of the healing preacher and to touch him or his garment. “It must be noted,” they wrote, that Fr. Peter never ever gave any credit of the healings to himself. He always gave all the credit to Jesus Christ, all for the glory of God.

“He knew who did the healing. He was only the instrument, and if anyone ever did not want a blessing, he never forced it on them.” They added, “He’d humbly joke about being just a ‘rookie’ priest, and like to say, ‘Donkeys bray. I just pray.’”

There are other supernatural stories related to Fr. Peter Rookey including the scent of roses during Masses he celebrated or coming from his vestments and accounts of seeing the face of Christ in the host during the consecration. There are reports of bilocation, from when people called his office one day “claiming to have been blessed by him as he walked through the crowds at Our Lady of Knock Shrine” in Ireland the previous day, even though he was at his office in Illinois at the time.”

Forgiveness was the focus of Fr. Rookey’s healing ministry. “He always stressed, ‘Hate and be sick. Love and be well, at peace,’” the website biography states. “He said unforgiveness was a form of hatred, and that this could block the healing the person should receive. He believed that in order to be healed one must forgive, and forgive completely from the heart, as Jesus our Lord commanded us to do.”

The “Miracle Prayer,” which is included on a holy card the Rookeys send out upon request, expresses personal repentance, forgiveness and renunciation of evil spirits. The nephew connects this personal practice of forgiveness with Fr. Peter’s good health and long life. He said his uncle practiced daily fasting, believing that “fasting opened him up to the flow of the Holy Spirit” as well as in deliverance ministry.
Even with the stories of miraculous healing, Fr. Peter loved laughter, ice cream for dessert and meals enjoyed with friends. For physical fitness, he played tennis and daily did 200 push-ups and sit-ups. Music was also very important to Fr. Rookey. He had a degree in Gregorian chant, loved to sing and could play the organ and piano by ear. He was fluent in Latin, Italian and German and spoke other languages partially.

A story of healing

Tim Rookey recounts that Fr. Peter’s first experience with healing was on the receiving end. When he was just 9 years old, he and a brother were walking around the family’s neighborhood on Ogden Avenue in Superior after the Fourth of July fireworks. They found a half-used firecracker and re-ignited it, resulting in a small explosion in young Peter’s face.

When the family doctor examined him, he told Peter’s mother that he would likely never see again, that medical science could not restore her son’s vision. She took matters into her own hands and committed to daily praying a family rosary for God to grant Peter a miraculous cure.

In an article for the Chicago Tribune, Oct. 16, 1994, Fr. Rookey recalled that within a year, his sight was restored. “It truly was the first miracle I’d ever witnessed,” he shared. “It was then I decided I wanted to become a priest. I say, use doctors and medicine when you are sick, but you also must pray. Because God gives the same wisdom to doctors that he gives to priests.”

He told the reporter that the stories of healing that have come through his prayers and blessings were “very humbling.” After the widespread notoriety in those early years in Ireland, his Servite superiors put his ministry on hold for decades, assigning non-pastoral duties.

His response to how that made him feel was discreet. “I became a priest to be an obedient servant of God’s will,” he said. “I trust my superiors to make wise decisions about the use of my gifts.” The Tribune article confirms that his healing ministry was not only “endorsed by the church’s hierarchy” but that he also had, at that point, that support of his religious order. A letter from his previous provincial noted his “good standing” as a priest. “Fr. Rookey’s ministry of preaching, healing and compassion has brought solace to many and contributes to the spiritual building of the church,” the article quoted.

Fr. Rookey maintained connections in the Diocese of Superior throughout his priesthood. His first public Mass after ordination in 1941 was celebrated at the Cathedral of Christ the King. (Nephew Tim recalls singing for that Mass with his eighth-grade classmates.)

In the 1990s, he offered various healing Masses and services. One Catholic Herald article written by Sam Lucero from Sept. 30, 1993, recounts more than 200 in attendance at a service held at Our Lady of the Lake in Ashland. As part of the burgeoning Charismatic renewal, many participants experienced “resting in the Holy Spirit” and physical healings were received as well. One woman who arrived with excruciating back pain felt it disappear. “It isn’t even sore,” Lucero recorded. “I can’t believe it. It was such a rush. All I can think of is that I’m not worthy,” she said.

In a May 2009 article for Catholic New World, editor Joyce Duriga wrote about Fr. Rookey’s nonprofit, the International Compassion Ministry, founded in 1987, which spread the Gospel and offered phone, internet and mail prayer ministry. Then 92, the healing priest quoted Jesus’ words from Mark 16:20, “lay hands on the sick and they will recover.”

“I tell the sick,” Fr. Peter was quoted, “’See how close you are to the heart of Jesus? His very last words were about you.’” Duriga paraphrased the priest, “Any healings that come from [ICM’s] prayer ministry are just Jesus backing up his own words and deeds.” He admitted to her that healing ministry wasn’t something he asked for, “I just fell into it.”

The article also discusses that in 2002, the Servite order again asked him to cease public healing ministry, which he obeyed. At that time, ICM turned to phone ministry with prayer requests that kept the phone ringing and received via voicemail overnight as well as constantly through letters and e-mail. These requests were logged, placed at the altar during Mass and overnight and remembered during devotions that Fr. Rookey and volunteers would pray together.

Duriga concluded that the priest commented on the “most important healing” as what goes unseen. “Your greatest healing is your spiritual healing. Physical healing is only temporary because we’re all going to die. Your spiritual healing is for all eternity.”

Tim and Anne Rookey continue to frequently receive stories about Fr. Rookey’s healings and spiritual influence. Despite the large number of petitioners for a cause for canonization to be opened, and the support of long-time friend of Fr. Peter, Fr. Jeffrey Grob, now Archbishop of Milwaukee, they cannot move forward as the Servite Order has not given their permission.

With their Chicago connections, Tim has received as assurance of assistance from John Prevost, Pope Leo XIV’s older brother, who hopes to take the Rookeys’ detailed overview stating their case for Fr. Rookey’s cause in coming months.

In a TV interview with a local Eau Claire station in 2012, speaking of his ministry, Fr. Rookey said, “The world’s never needed healing more than it does right now, and it seems that’s there a healing explosion going on all over the world for that reason.” He iterated that his “great thrust is the inner healing. If the Lord so desires also and wants to take you out of your wheelchair and make you walk again,” then that’s a bonus.