Sololá, Guatemala, Jul 30, 2019 / 03:20 pm (CNA).- There’s a black and white photo that holds a special meaning for those familiar with Blessed Stanley Rother— the farm-raised Oklahoma priest who gave his life for the faith 38 years ago while serving the poor in Central America.
The picture shows the tall, bearded priest standing on the steps of his mission church in Guatemala, holding the hand of an indigenous girl, probably four or five years old, who is gazing up at him.
“There’s actually a statue that was made based upon that photograph,” Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City told CNA.
“No one really knew who that young girl was, but in recent months she has been identified and we had a chance to meet her [on Sunday].”
Coakley led a group of 53 pilgrims, most from his diocese, on a trip to Guatemala to celebrate Father Rother’s July 28 feast day in the parish where he served.
“She was there with her mother,” Coakley continued. “This woman is now in her 40s, her mother must be in her 60s or 70s, but we had a chance to meet her, greet her, and that was a beautiful moment because I’m very familiar with the photograph and the image.”
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>LITTLE GIRL FROM FAMOUS ROTHER PHOTO FOUND!<br><br>SANTIAGO ATITLAN — The year before Blessed Stanley Rother was murdered in Guatemala, an iconic photograph of him holding the hand of a young girl was captured outside of… <a href=”https://t.co/YsFHLAJ275″>https://t.co/YsFHLAJ275</a></p>— Archdiocese of OKC (@ArchOKC) <a href=”https://twitter.com/ArchOKC/status/1156067756703395840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>July 30, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Portrait of a priest
Blessed Stanley Rother was from the small town of Okarche, Oklahoma, abour 40 miles northwest of Oklahoma City. He was born in 1935 and attended Holy Trinity Catholic Church and School his entire life before joining the seminary, where he struggled at first, but he eventually graduated from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Oklahoma City and Tulsa in 1963.
While Rother was in seminary, St. John XXIII asked the Churches of North America to send assistance to and establish missions in Central America.
Soon after, the Oklahoma diocese established a mission in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, a poor rural community of mostly indigenous people, a group called the Tz’utujil, who are descendants of the Mayans.
A few years after he was ordained, Fr. Rother accepted an invitation to join the mission team, where he would spend the next 13 years of his life.
The group from Oklahoma City, along with a number of other pilgrims from the US, went to Guatemala last week to visit some of the places where Rother served in the 1960s and ’70s, including his mission parish in Santiago Atitlan.
Archbishop Coakley celebrated Mass Sunday morning at St. James the Apostle Catholic Church in Santiago Atitlan.
“We had two beautiful Masses, and the people there are very traditional in preserving their Mayan culture, Mayan dress, and they came in great crowds to the Masses that we celebrated in both Santiago Atitlan and in Cerro de Oro,” he said.
Fruits of Blessed Rother’s ministry
A group from the archdiocese generally visits Guatemala every five years, and this was the first year the group has visited since Rother’s beatification in 2017. Last year Coakley had stayed home, because he wanted to be in the archdiocese for Rother’s first feast day.
“[On Monday] I met a priest who had been baptized by Father Stanley many years ago, and I think he was the first Tz’utujil priest to be ordained from the diocese,” Coakley said.
“That was a quite evident fruit of Blessed Stanley’s ministry. Many things are still flourishing there that he was a part of, that he helped to start. The parish is strong, many vocations have come from the parish, he developed a farming cooperative, some agricultural projects that are still going strongly.”
“One of the things that really helped him connect with the people is that he took the time and made the effort to learn their language, which was a very difficult Mayan dialect,” Coakley continued.
He also helped to translate the Bible into their language, organizing a team to translate the New Testament so they could read it at Mass. That translation is still used to this day.
“He acquired the skill and proficiency so that he could preach in it, could speak to the people in that, and that was really some of the key to his success. That and the fact that he just loved being with them. He would work with them, he would eat with hem in their homes, visit them, so it was a powerful witness that endeared him to the people and he had certainly fallen in love with the people themselves.”
Blessed Rother’s influence is still felt in the parish and in the town, especially since relics of the priest are kept in the church for the people to venerate.
“The love that the people of Santiago Atitlan have for Blessed Stanley is very apparent,” Father Josh Mayer, a priest of the Diocese of Gallup who was also visiting Guatemala for the feast day, told CNA.
“At the parish, his presence is everywhere – his heart and his blood are in the Church, the room that he was killed in has been converted into a chapel in his honor, the parochial school has been named after him. Blessed Rother is well-known all over town.”
Mayer is pastor of two parishes in the Diocese of Gallup – St. Mary in Bloomfield and St. Rose of Lima in Blanco – which have a partnership with a Guatemalan school called Escuela Integrada. Father Mayer said the vibrancy of the parish where Rother served is an inspiration to him, especially the Chapel of Perpetual Adoration, which he says is always full when he visits.
“The Catholic community in Santiago Atitlan is incredibly vibrant and active. I’ve never seen as many altar servers as they have at each Sunday Mass in Santiago – it’s incredible,” he said.
“The Eucharistic Ministers and lectors and catechists and other ministry groups are all incredibly well organized and everyone takes their roles very seriously. The people are very proud of what they do for Jesus and His Church. Every time I visit the parish of Santiago Apostol, I’m inspired with a vision of what we could do at our parishes back home.”
Despite the vibrancy of the parish, Mayer reflected that Guatemala is a “land of extremes”: a beautiful, rich environment populated by people notable for their kindness, warmth, and sense of community and family life. At the same time, material poverty, malnutrition, envy, extortion, and abuse are common.
“And yet, in the midst of these profound difficulties, the Guatemalan people have a profound sense of hope and joy,” he said.
“Their faith, hope and love shine forth in a way that really is miraculous…there are many Catholic and Christian groups that work, in ways big and small, to help our brothers and sisters in Guatemala.”
Martyrdom
In the early morning hours of July 28, 1981, three ski-masked men broke into the rectory of the mission where Rother was living. The men were Ladinos— non-indigenous men who had been fighting the native people and rural poor of the country since the 1960s.
The men attempted to kidnap Rother at gunpoint, but he refused and resisted, struggling but refusing to call for help so as not to endanger the others in the parish mission. Within fifteen minutes, the men had shot the priest twice and fled.
“What Blessed Rother did on the night of July 28, 1981, wasn’t essentially different from what he was already in the habit of doing – pouring his life out for the people that Jesus had called him to serve,” Mayer reflected.
“He died well because he lived well, for God and for the flock he was given. It’s a great inspiration and a deep challenge: if you want to die as a martyr, if you want to die like Jesus, don’t wait for some terrible opportunity to come to you. Pour your life out, now, for God and for the people that He’s put in your life, and then you will be ready if the ultimate sacrifice is demanded of you.”
Path to sainthood
The Oklahoma City archdiocese opened Rother’s cause for canonization in 2007.
Pope Francis recognized Rother as a martyr in 2016. He is the first martyr from the United States and the first U.S.-born priest to be beatified, the archdiocese says.
The Rite of Beatification took place Sept. 23, 2017, in downtown Oklahoma City with more than 20,000 people from around the world in attendance.
Rother is a well-known figure in the Oklahoma City archdiocese and throughout the state. Last week, Governor Kevin Stitt proclaimed July 28 Blessed Stanley Rother Day in Oklahoma. The day coincides with Rother’s feast feast day, the 38th anniversary of his martyrdom.
The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is in the final stages of design of a 2,000-seat shrine church, museum, and campus in his honor, to be located in south Oklahoma City, according to the archdiocese website.
“Blessed Stanley is really, in my estimation, kind of an everyman’s saint. There’s something about him that everyone can relate to,” Coakley reflected.
“He’s very human, he struggled to get through seminary, he worked hard to get through seminary…he applied all that God had given him, developed those skills and talents, and everything came in handy when he found himself at the mission.”
“Family, community, parish life were all very important to him growing up, and so he embedded himself in the parish in Guatemala among the families that he served. He became a part of each family. So I think his dedication, his availability, his determination, his willingness to roll up his sleeves and work hard, he didn’t take himself too seriously…He was courageous when things got difficult, he knew what he was facing but he chose to remain there and stay with his people, and that’s what cost him his life— his love for his people and his love for the gospel, and his desire to be faithful to the end.”
[…]
“. . . this is leading many Catholics to Protestantism . . .”
And not just in Brazil.
Back in 2006 when I was my diocese’s Director of Catholic Charities I made the decision that we would begin doing medical missions to Guatemala. What convinced me was a visit to Guatenala where I witnessed firsthand numerous missionaries from protestant denominations who were in Guatemala for one reason which was to convert baptized Catholics into protestant evangelicalism. I also was aghast at the thousands of evangelical churches that dotted the landscape. I thought to myself that I could just retutn to my home diocese and do nothing or I could begin to organize Catholics in my diocese to become missionaries to the Guatemalan people. That I did
Sometimes the road to Protestantism is the road back to Rome. They go there because we are not doing our job in teaching and evangelizing. We should be thankful for what they do and acknowledge what we are NOT doing. We should love our “separated brethren “ and share with them the fullness of faith just as Paul did with those who only knew of the baptism of John and those who did not have the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
How’s that Liberation Theology working out in Nicaragua, Pope Francis?
Such a question to pose to Pope Francis as one may readily anticipated his response “Nicaragua is struggling only because the radical traditionalist have precluded the fullest implementation of Liberation Theology in Nicaragua as well as throughout the world.”
There is arguable evidence that “liberation theology” was not so much the intellectual achievement of theologians as a construct of communists, esp. in Romania, who tried to package Marxism in Christian wineskins and found gullible “thinkers” buying the sauce.
Absolutely true, “liberation” theology was political, thoroughly, and the cause of decline of true Christianity in all parts of the world it was and still is being espoused. We can not “believe” in a church that is based on faith in a political solution to societal ills. It will fail, and in fact in this instance,brought about even more suffering and persecution, even more poverty, than BEFORE the new Catholicism in the form of Liberation Theology was espoused. I listened and learned from these liberation theologists in the 70s and 80s, and wised up when I saw the results. Results on the poor is what my bottom line is, and liberation theolody/marxism does not raise up the poor.
100% agree. Oddly my full comment of agreement was declined to post, but at least I can 100% agree
Sorry, it WAS accepted, just after I posted it was not. Apologies.
So the Vatican discernment for the catastrophe called liberation theology in Brazil is to resuscitate and rehabilitate it for worldwide export. 🤦♀️
Quick, lock the doors and alert the masters of synodality that there’s another “backward” Christian lurking in Brazil!
And, of the Boff brothers, why are we reminded of the difference, too, between Karl Rahner and his brother and priest Hugo? Fr. Hugo Rahner once said that he would like to translate Karl’s theologically foggy German tomes—into German!
“It is necessary for the Church to once again emphasize Christ as priest, as master and Lord, and not just the fight against poverty” or climate change.
Absolutely. Jesus DID say the poor would always be with us. He said nothing about climate change yet He does control the wind and the rain. He set limits to the seas.
Without HIM we can do absolutely zero, NADA, nothing. So why do delude ourselves, huh? He also said He would be with us always, so why do we wait to call upon Him?
The problem is that too many clergy imagine that Catholicism is the same thing as Communism. Its not. But by the time some realize it, the damage is already far gone. If some are FINALLY waking up to the fact that they have tossed out the baby with the bath water, more the better. The REAL question is, can the many decades of damage still be reversed?
In the public health scam COVID-cum-COVID-vaccine, the Pope propagated a singular solidarity in the scam vaccinations as the way of universal human fraternity and (somehow) love of the poor -all through the Cross of Christ.
At a particular Way of the Cross event he demonstrated a total conviction with a patterning to obedience, “Christ at the absolute center with a cost”.
I forgive the Pope for it. It is nonetheless a total disaster. Of what now ensues, I think it is necessary to practice greater fidelity in faith in order to make up for what remains absent; help what might be inoffensive or perhaps right; and be vigilant for what is still likely to go wrong again.
I would like to point out to him, for a consideration, that what the “singular solidarity” approach does in many instances, is, it merely leaves his apostolate and that of many others, hamstrung. And it can contain a rigidity all its own.
What is the percentage of professed Catholics in traditionally known “Catholic” nations, such as Italy or Spain? Also, we all need to read in Sacred Scripture Thessalonians 2:1-8 a great falling way from Christ’s Church.
Liberation Theology is heresy. You can’t “put Christ at the center” of heresy “because it will cost you”. You have to reject the heresy.
The thing with heresy is that it gets in your blood, your very spirit becomes polluted; and only the grace of God can purify.
This article is too descriptive and carries forward the tone of accommodation. Christ does not rectify heresy, He destroys it.
Make mammon the priority over holiness of soul and you have gone awry. Give the poor enough mammon and you save them from evil? Hardly. Yet, how many with enough mammon believe they no longer need God? Too many. Brazil is wealthy. As the wealth has come, the need for the faith diminished. The SJWs post V2 had the same “pie in the sky” mentality about divinizing saving the helpless poor. The orders that took their eyes off Heaven and refocused their energies on lifting the poor out of poverty were all dissolved from atrophy 5-years or so afterward. It was a death knoll. Jesus said that “the poor will always be with you.” I think it’s well past time we accept that and move on to saving souls again. It matters.
To understand the impact of Liberation Theology in Brazil, it’s necessary to assess it in the wider context of world affairs in the region, plus the common cultural dynamic of class color. Insofar as world affairs the US supported a policy of support and intervention for dictatorial leaders who were anti communist. Example, the notoriously oppressive Somoza govt Nicaragua, which precipitated the Ortega anti Catholic regime. Class color is a preferential tendency for lighter complected leadership. We find this in S America, India, and elsewhere, and to a large extent during the history of the US [today in the US there’s an exaggerated, likely unjust effort to reverse the trend at the expense of the lighter complected].
Most of the clergy in S America were from upper to middle class families, many plantation patroons. Archbishop Romero, Salvador, was murdered because he opposed the class system that victimized the poor. Whatever the source of Liberation Theology, its error in sidelining Christ in favor of the underprivileged, climate it remains that it addressed injustices that are at least partially responsible for Catholic apostasy.
It’s an historical fact that Jorge Bergoglio, when prefect for the Jesuits in Argentina refused to support three confreres involved in the liberation movement who were arrested and mistreated by police. He later contended that this was a mistake. According to biographer Austen Ivereigh he reversed course, adapting a Peronist socialist outlook that may explain his radical approach to traditional doctrine. John Paul II opposed Liberation Theology but successfully intervened in the similar Solidarity movement in Poland. Perhaps he could have done as well in S America.
“Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven’” (Matthew 19:21). A primary dynamic in Christ’s message is compassion for those in need. That is mentioned throughout the Gospels and letters.
There are injustices in this world that require correction. Keeping people in virtual slave labor conditions to preserve wealth and status is an injustice. Unfortunately, the Vatican failed to develop a viable response to the immoral disparity between the upper and lower classes in S America. When Catholic missionaries addressed these moral issues, aside from the ideologues, with due prudence, they were falsely accused of being Marxists.
For the rest of us, if we content ourselves with our comfortable status and neglect witness to the truth, for example, those in dire need we neglect a vital dimension of our salvation. As readers well know I don’t agree with all that Pope Francis proposes. But on this social justice issue I agree fully.
Liberation Theology is a pseudo-Christian idea. Sadly it won’t be abandoned anytime soon. The hubris in the hierarchy will likely double down on the failing and flawed idea until the numbers are unavoidable. Too many people assume that the peddlers of Liberation Theology are interested in growing the church. I’d posit their real aim to is to feel good in their emoting of the ideas within Liberation Theology instead of actually doing good. The WSJ had an article on the rise of Pentecostalism in South America not too long ago. One of the speculated ideas was that the Liberation Theology hold put economic prosperity in a negative light, whereas the non-Catholic denominations were at peace with those in poverty trying to break into the middle class.
Here is an attempt t0 apply “liberation theology” to Catholic schools which are now too expensive for the poor:
“A preferential option for the poor” should be maintained in our Catholic Schools. If we find that we cannot afford to keep our schools open to the poor, the Church should be ready to use its resources for something else which can be kept open to the poor. We cannot allow our Church to become a church primarily for the middle-class and rich while throwing a bone to the poor. The priority should be given to the poor even if we have to let the middle-class and rich fend for themselves.
Practically speaking, the Catholic Schools must give up general education in those countries where the State is providing it. The resources of the Church could then be focused on “Confraternity of Christian Doctrine” and other programs which can be kept open to the poor. These resources could then be used to help society become more human in solidarity with the poor. Remember, the Church managed without Catholic Schools for centuries. It can get along without them today. The essential factor from the Christian point of view is to cultivate enough Faith to act in the Gospel Tradition, namely, THE POOR GET PRIORITY. The rich and middle-class are welcome too. But the poor come first.
Seriously? What is your issue, really? Do you imagine the middle class and “wealthy” kids have no souls to be saved? Poor is a relative concept, with most poor Americans ( with clean clothing, new sneakers and cell phones) looking like they have a pretty decent deal to the rest of the world. That is why we are presently in need of a very large WALL to keep these folks OUT.We do indeed have a standard public school system here in the US. However with the leftist oriented teachers telling the kids the US is a horrible country, slamming the white kids for being white, and indoctrinating ALL the kids with noxious and perv sexual concepts, I would not enroll a dog there. Finally, statistics show most US public schools have exceedingly large numbers of kids not meeting standards of achievement for math and English. Why would ANYONE with a brain put their kids there. Finally, with the middle class and wealthy tuition payers pushed out of Catholic schools, who do you imagine is going to come up with the cash to pay the teachers, electric and heating bill, etc? The poor folks? Dont think so. We do indeed have poor catholics and existing catholic schools should make certain to admit a few such families to the school tuition free. A teacher will be teaching whether there are 16 kids in the class or 18. Our church just took up a collection of school supplies for a neighboring parish for the upcoming school year. There are of course deserving poor, but some of us are tired of having to hear the whine and then get kicked for it.
“This option [for the poor] is not limited to material poverty, since it is well known that there are many other forms of poverty, especially in modern society—not only economic, but cultural and spiritual poverty as well” (St. John Paul II, Centesimus Annus, 1993, n. 57).
Liberation Theology is not merely “thoroughly political movement that actually works against the poor/exploits the poor”; it is heresy.
So you blend Marxist ideology with Christian theology and then wonder why people end up leaving the church? That’s not exactly rocket science.
Liberation Theology was an effective tool in the armory of Jesus of Nazareth. In his time Jesus liberated the sinners from sin, the tax collectors from greed, the exploiters from practicing all forms of corruption. Following in the footsteps of Christ, the apostles and the disciples became teachers and practitioners of liberation theology. Sensitizing and conscientizing the simple and pious people who were led astray by the regimes of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Levites, the good old liberation theologians of the first century unleashed a sustainable emancipatory model for living and serving in dignity, as human beings made in the image and likeness of the divine.
Liberation Theology is a modern heresy.