Who was Stanley Rother?
Stanley Rother was an American priest who served as a missionary in Guatemala for 13 years. He was born in 1935 in Okarche, Oklahoma, and ordained in 1963. He volunteered to work in the diocese’s mission to the Tz’utujil people, an indigenous group living in the rural highlands of southwest Guatemala. He learned Spanish and Tz’utujil, the local language, and became a beloved pastor and friend to the people. He also helped with agricultural projects, medical care, and education.
Why was he killed?
Guatemala was going through a violent civil war that lasted from 1960 to 1996. The government forces and paramilitary groups were targeting and killing anyone who was suspected of supporting the guerrilla movement or advocating for social justice. Many priests, religious, and lay people who worked with the poor and oppressed were among the victims. Rother was aware of the danger, but he refused to abandon his flock. He wrote in a letter in 1980, “The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger.”
On July 28, 1981, three masked men broke into the church rectory where Rother was staying and shot him twice in the head. He was 46 years old. His killers were never identified, but they were believed to be government soldiers. Rother’s death shocked and saddened the people of Santiago Atitlan, who called him Father Francisco, and the people of Oklahoma, who honored him as a hero and a martyr.
How is he remembered?
Rother’s body was brought back to Oklahoma and buried in his hometown. His heart, however, was left in Guatemala, as a sign of his love and devotion to the people. A memorial plaque in Santiago Atitlan quotes John 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Rother’s cause for canonization was opened by the Catholic Church in 2007. In 2016, Pope Francis declared him a martyr, meaning that he died for his faith. In 2017, he was beatified, the last step before sainthood. He is the first U.S.-born priest and martyr to be beatified by the Catholic Church, and the second person to be beatified on American soil. His feast day is July 28, the anniversary of his death.
Rother’s legacy lives on in the people he served, the church he loved, and the world he inspired. He is a model of courage, compassion, and commitment for all Christians and all people of goodwill.
