Blessed Stanley Rother: The Story of America’s First Catholic Martyr (Joanne Wright) - 8/13/25

8/13/25 - Born in rural Oklahoma in 1935, Blessed Stanley Rother was a diocesan priest who answered the call to serve as a missionary in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, where he ministered to the indigenous Tz'utujil people for 13 years. He learned both Spanish and the local Mayan dialect, translated the New Testament into their native language, and worked tirelessly as a pastor, teacher, and friend amid growing political unrest and violence. As government death squads began targeting Church leaders who defended the poor, Fr. Rother refused to abandon his flock, famously declaring, "The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger." On July 28, 1981, he was assassinated in his rectory, becoming the first U.S.-born priest declared a martyr by the Catholic Church.