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First US-born martyr declared

First US-born martyr declared

Last updated on: December 2, 2016 at 2:18 pm by Father Pablo Migone

First US-born martyr declared 2016-12-02T14:18:31-05:00 Father Pablo Migone

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Father Rother’s parish in Santiago Atitlan, founded in 1547 by Spanish missionaries

Pope Francis officially recognized today the martyrdom of Father Stanley Rother, a priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City who was killed in Guatemala, making him the first martyr born in the United States. This recognition of his martyrdom clears the way for his beatification.

Already on June 25th, 2015, a theological commission at the Congregation of the Causes of Saints voted to formally recognize him as a martyr. At that critical moment, the Archbishop of Oklahoma City stated that “Father Rother laid down his life for Christ and for the people of his parish in Guatemala, whom he dearly loved. It is very encouraging to move one step closer to a formal recognition by the Church of Father Rother’s heroic life and death as a martyr for the Gospel.” After many steps in this process, Pope Francis has now given final recognition of the martyrdom of Stanley Rother.

Father Stanley Rother died while serving the flock entrusted to him as a missionary to the indigenous people of Guatemala. He knew that remaining with his parishioners in Santiago Atitlan was his death sentence due to the tense political situation, yet he stayed. A few years ago I visited Santiago Atitlan and spent the night in the room adjacent to the room where he was shot. I met people who knew him and worked with him. I met one of his seminary classmates. I met the woman who cleaned the crime scene. I heard stories from priests who saw him pacing back and forth in a chapel in Guatemala City days before his martyrdom. A military death squad killed him in 1981. Father Rother had become a threat to the government because he was helping the indigenous and defending them against a government that had little use for them.

Listening to Chona, the lady who cleaned up Father Rother’s blood with a dust pan and placed it in a jar. Here she is telling us the story along with many others at San Lucas Toliman Parish

Library turned into chapel where Father Rother was murdered in the parish rectory

The following text is taken from a prayer card of Servant of God Father Stanley Rother, Oklahoma Martyr:

Father Stanley Rother, born March 27, 1935, grew up in Okarche, Oklahoma, and was ordained a priest in 1963. Five years later, he received the call to serve in the Oklahoma mission in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala.

Through the years, Father Rother learned the local Tzutuhil dialect, served the people with devotion, and was deeply loved by the parishioners. Political unrest swept the country in the 1970s and in 1980 four priests were killed in Guatemala.

In his Christmas letter of 1980, Father Rother wrote: “The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger.” Nevertheless, as conditions worsened, he came back to Oklahoma. After a short time, despite the danger, he returned to the mission because of his love for the people.

Sunday Mass at Santiago Atitlan with Tzutuhil Mayas

On the night of July 28, 1981, three men entered the rectory, tortured and shot Father Rother. Father Rother’s heart is buried in the church in Guatemala and his body is buried at Holy Trinity Cemetery in Okarche. The official Cause for Beatification of Father Rother was begun in October 2007. We now pray that the Church will declare him a martyr and a saint.

The prayers have been answered and Father Rother will be beatified in the near future. He is an example of selfless love and service in imitation of Christ.

Monument where Father Rother’s blood and heart are buried inside the parish of Santiago Atitlan

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