Stanley Rother

In June 1968, responding to the call of Pope John XXIII who encouraged the sending of missionaries to Latin America, Father Stanley Rother volunteered to join the Oklahoma diocesan mission in Guatemala. He was assigned to the parish of Santiago Atitlán, located in the Diocese of Sololá, serving the indigenous Tz'utujil population (a people of Mayan origin). To facilitate his integration, he adopted the name "Padre Francisco" (or "Padre Aplas" in the Tz'utujil language). Despite his past difficulties with languages in the seminary, he managed to master both Spanish and Tz'utujil perfectly. He celebrated Mass in the local language and actively collaborated on the translation of the New Testament into Tz'utujil. His work was not limited to the spiritual realm. Drawing on his agricultural experience gained in Oklahoma, he worked the land daily alongside local farmers. He participated in the creation of an agricultural cooperative, a weavers' cooperative, and a credit union. He also contributed to the founding of a school, a hospital in the neighboring town of Panabaj, and the first Catholic radio station in the region. From 1975, following the gradual departure of the other members of the mission, he assumed sole charge of the parish.

At the end of the 1970s, Guatemala was plunged into a violent civil war. The Lake Atitlán region became the scene of bloody clashes between the government army and leftist guerrillas. Catholic institutions and catechists, accused of supporting protest movements due to their social action, were particularly targeted by military repression. Father Rother witnessed the kidnapping and murder of several of his parishioners and collaborators. His own name was placed on a blacklist of people condemned to death by death squads. Faced with imminent danger, his superiors and family compelled him to return to Oklahoma in January 1981. However, Father Stanley could not bring himself to abandon his community in the midst of chaos. In a pastoral letter addressed to his archdiocese in December 1980, he wrote this now-famous sentence: "The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger." Desiring to celebrate Holy Week with his faithful, he returned to Santiago Atitlán in April 1981. On July 28, 1981, around one in the morning, three armed and masked men broke into the rectory. Having threatened a young man from the parish to lead them to the priest's room, they confronted Father Stanley. Refusing to be taken away to avoid being tortured and putting others in danger, the priest resisted physically. He was shot twice in the head. He was 46 years old.

After his assassination, the remains of Father Stanley Rother were repatriated to the United States and buried in Holy Trinity Cemetery in Okarche. However, at the express request of his Guatemalan parishioners, his heart and blood were removed and buried under the altar of the parish church of Santiago Atitlán, where they are still venerated. The cause for beatification was officially opened on October 5, 2007, under the impetus of Archbishop Eusebius J. Beltran of Oklahoma City, after the Vatican authorized the transfer of jurisdiction of the cause from the Guatemalan diocese of Sololá-Chimaltenango. The diocesan inquiry closed on July 20, 2010. On December 1, 2016, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the martyrdom of Father Stanley Rother, who died in odium fidei (in hatred of the faith). He thus became the first martyr born in the United States and the first American priest to be recognized as such. The beatification ceremony was celebrated on September 23, 2017, at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. It was presided over by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, representing Pope Francis, in the presence of more than 20,000 faithful. In 2023, a large shrine dedicated to Blessed Stanley Rother was inaugurated in Oklahoma City, where his mortal remains now rest.

The spirituality of Blessed Stanley Rother is characterized by a concrete pastoral charity, a total gift of self, and a profound identification with Christ the Good Shepherd. At his ordination, he had chosen this formula inspired by Saint Augustine: "For my own good I am a Christian, for the good of others I am a priest." His legacy lies in his refusal to compromise in the face of injustice and in his absolute fidelity to his flock, even to the sacrifice of his life. He demonstrated that holiness does not depend on academic success or extraordinary eloquence, but on a humble, loving, and incarnate presence in the midst of the poorest. He remains a figure of unity and a spiritual bridge between the Church of the United States and the indigenous peoples of Central America.