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I often hear there are no heroes today. This doesn't ring true to me
because my world is full of heroes and saints. One man who is both to
me is Father Stanley Rother. This simple priest in answering God's call
found himself serving the Tzutuhil, the impoverished residents of Santiago
Atitlan.
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| This plaque, found in the church in Santiago Atitlan, commemorates Father
Stanley Rother. It lays out the essentials of his life. Padre Francisco
(Stan was tough for the Tzutuhil to pronounce) was born in 1935. Ordained
in 1963 Father Stan went to serve as parish priest in Santiago Atitlan in
1968. He served there until his assassination in 1981. The letter from the
final year of his life are collected into "The Shepherd Cannot Run",
available by contacting the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. His ordination
card read, "For my own sake I am a Christian; for the sake of others
I am a priest." |
| The letters in the book make it clear. Stan was no wild eyed
rebel. He was a simple parish priest who served his Lord by serving the
Lord's people. He offered mass, baptized, married, heard confessions and
buried. He organized catechism and was working on translation of the Gospel
to the native Tzutuhil language. |
| Stan was certainly not the only priest to be murdered in his
church defending the defenseless with only his blood. Oscar Romero, Archbishop
of San Salvador in El Salvador was similarly murdered in his church as he
said mass. I never knew Father Stan, of course, but I honor him. |
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In his 1980 Christmas letter to Oklahoma Father Stan touched on the murders
of his people at the hands of the army and admitted there was no safety
for himself. "So far we have ten men that have disappeared...good
friend of mine just happened to be in the wrong place when several others
were picked up. He left a wife and three children. ...a supposed leader
in the Church and town was complaining that, "Father is defending
the people." He wants me deported for my sin. This is one of the
reasons I have for staying in the face of physical harm. The shepherd
cannot run at the first sign of danger." (pp54-55 The Shepherd
Cannot Run 1984 The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.)
Father Stan, defending God's people by placing his unarmed flesh in harms
way, was assassinated in his home, the Santiago Atitlan Church, on July
28 1981. His heart is buried beneath the plaque pictured above.
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