Fr. Bob Kus 
Today we look at an American missionary hero of our own time, Fr. Stanley Rother.
Stanley Rother was born on March 27, 1935 in Okarche, Oklahoma and attended the local church and school of Holy Trinity.
In high school, he decided to study for the priesthood. After spending time at Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, Texas, he finished his priesthood studies at Mount St. Mary Seminary at Emmitsburg, Maryland. He was ordained on May 23, 1963 for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.
For the first five years of his priesthood, he served as a parochial vicar in various parishes in Oklahoma. Then, in 1968, he requested and received permission to join the archdiocese’s mission team in Santiago Atitlan, Sololá, Guatemala.
In this area, Fr. Stanley worked with the Tz’utujil tribe, descendants of the Mayans. Even though he had trouble with Latin in the seminary, he learned Spanish and the Tz’utujil language. In fact, in time, he was able to translate the New Testament into Tz’utujil and preach in the language.
Because of his farming background in Oklahoma, Fr. Stanley was able to help the farmers – who lived in extreme poverty – with planting, harvesting, and even building an irrigation system. In addition to the usual things a parish priest does, such as celebrating Mass and the other sacraments, he assisted the people when they needed healthcare attention and even founded a small hospital and supported a radio station.
At the time he was in Guatemala, however, there was a civil war raging in the country. Though he and another priest went back to Oklahoma briefly, Fr. Stanley insisted on returning to his beloved people even though he had learned that his name was on the “death list” of government forces. As he said, “The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger.”
On July 28, 1981, around 1 a.m., three men entered the rectory and executed him. Fr. Stanley was one of 10 Catholic priests murdered by the government in Guatemala that year.
Fr. Stanley’s body was moved for burial in Holy Trinity Cemetery in Okarche, Oklahoma, but his heart was buried under the altar of the church in Guatemala, for that was the custom of the Tz’utujil people.
On September 23, 2017, Fr. Stanley was beatified. Blessed Stanley Rother’s feast day is July 28. One of the guest houses on the Holy Cross campus in Reitoca, F.M., Honduras is dedicated to Blessed Stanley.
To learn more about Blessed Stanley’s life, please check out the excellent book by Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda, The Shepherd Who Didn’t Run: Father Stanley Rother: Martyr from Oklahoma.
2 Comments
His life is an example to all of us. I would like to order the book about his life. Thank you for sharing his story, Father.
I will have my copy by July 30th. Grew up in farm country and appreciate all the work it takes to run a farm. If the crops are not planted in time, everything else is held up. I feel very fortunate to have lived my early years in this environment near Utica, NY.