BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) -- The Cathedral of Saint Paul held its annual mass Monday in honor of a priest assassinated in Birmingham over 100 years ago.

Father James Coyle was shot as he sat in the swing on the front porch of his rectory August 11, 1921. A Ku Klux Klan member and minister murdered Coyle after the priest presided over his daughter's marriage to a Puerto Rican man less than two hours before, according to the church.

The accused shooter was acquitted in a trial two months later. The church said Coyle's legacy lives on.

"We want to remember his life," said Jim Pinto, founder of the Father Coyle Memorial Project. "We want to promote understanding, racial reconciliation, ecumenism, harmony between all religions without compromising what we believe. That's what Father Coyle stoo

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