Stanley Rother martyred in Guatemala (1981)

The Catholic Church recently declared Fr. Stanley Rother a martyr. Oklahoman Fr. Rother was murdered in Guatemala on July 28, 1981. Rother is one of the lesser known US citizens to have been murdered in Central America during the region's bloody civil wars. He worked in Santiago Atitlan.

His journey from farm boy to clergyman was an unlikely one. He was not a natural student and he had struggled with Latin when he was at the seminary, according to the Catholic News Agency.

But in Guatemala, Father Rother was determined to reach out to residents and learned the local Tz’utujil language, translating the New Testament. He taught parishioners to read and write, helped them farm, and founded a hospital, a school and a radio station. His red beard and easy smile were a familiar presence in the area, where he became a beloved figure.

Fr. Rother knew his life was in danger. After returning to Oklahoma for a short while, he decided to return to the people with whom he worked in solidarity, fully aware of what would likely happen to him upon his return. No one was arrested or convicted of his murder, but the evidence leads to the involvement of right-wing death squads. The year 1981 was a vicious one in Guatemala and El Salvador as the military regimes took the gloves off when Ronald Reagan assumed the presidency in January of that year.

See here as well.