Blessed Stanley Rother: A Shepherd Worth Knowing

Roxane Salonen reflects on her visit to the Blessed Father Stanley Rother Shrine, where she learned more about this homegrown saint-in-the-making. 

“In 1980, violence came to Santiago.” These words had me scrambling for my notepad on August 8 while watching a video dedicated to the life of Blessed Father Stanley Rother at his shrine in Oklahoma City.  

This homegrown holy man, the first American priest to be martyred, is buried at the shrine — literally embodied within the chapel altar. The shrine is a beautiful nod to the lowly farmer who, in 1981, gave his very life for the people of Guatemala. 

There to speak at a conference the next day, I was delighted when my friend, Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda, offered to bring me to Mass at the shrine, which was dedicated on Feb. 17, 2023, at a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Paul S. Coakley and 3,000 others from around the world. 

In 2019, Maria had asked me to read and endorse her account of Father Rother’s life and death, The Shepherd Who Did Not Run. I remembered from that how he’d struggled to learn Latin while preparing for the priesthood, which almost derailed his vocation. But during my recent visit, it came to my attention that he seemed to have no problem learning the ancient language of the people he served — a reminder that love can motivate our movements like nothing else.  

The efforts of Father Rother, or “Papa Francisco,” as he was known there, didn’t go unnoticed. He’d become so endeared to the people in Santiago that when he died, they begged to keep his body with them. When denied, they pleaded to at least retain his heart for veneration. It remains there, incorrupt.  

The Seed of Martyrdom: a Vocation Boom 

Maria and her husband, Michael, told me that the area had not had one priestly vocation in 40 years — until Blessed Rother brought his light and love into that space. There’s since been an influx of vocations, many of which have come from his former parish in Santiago, showing the powerful fruit of his witness. 

But what was happening in Santiago that led to the death of this simple farmer’s son, who’d left one agricultural community for another a world away? 

It comes down to government corruption and what happens when powerful, immoral, people reign. They detested that common folk might realize their dignity in Christ, and sought to destroy Christianity in the area. When government officials promised to protect the people, Father Rother asked, pointedly: “If you’re here to protect them, why are my people disappearing?” 

“The world was attacking from all directions,” said Father Wolf in the video, adding, that underneath Father Rother’s quiet nature was a heart of steel. 

Another interviewee pointed out that Father Rother struggled with how to minister to the people with violence all around, and at one point realized his life was in danger. He reluctantly returned to Oklahoma, promising, however, that he’d be back by Holy Week. 

After much prayer and discernment, and understanding he could die, Father Rother returned as promised, in time to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, who endured a violent death; the kind Father Rother would soon taste, too.  

‘Confident in God’s providence’ 

He knew, from following Jesus, that a shepherd should not run, noted Archbishop Eusebius Joseph Beltran in the video. 

Maria, who also was interviewed, said that Father Rother “was confident in God’s providence,” and that he didn’t go back to die, but to love.  

And “once again, the shepherd was in their midst,” added Archbishop Coakley. 

Father Rother didn’t just throw caution to the wind, however. He tried to protect himself, for his people, changing the locks on the parish doors and making other provisions, should a surprise attack happen. 

On July 27, after a day of celebration, three men walked in the rectory in the middle of the night and violently murdered Father Rother. The blood splatters on the wall told of a gruesome death.  

Almost immediately, the grieving parishioners people set about collecting the blood in jars. “They knew it was martyrdom from the beginning,” Maria said in the video. 

In 2016, Pope Francis decaled him “blessed,” and Father Rother was beatified in September 2017. A few months prior, in May 2017, his remains were exhumed and relics procured from his rib, after which time a 24-hour veneration of his body commenced at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral in Oklahoma City.  

Maria was present at the all-night vigil, which had drawn a large crowd. She shared with me how she’d decided to go to visit the body at midnight, thinking it would be quiet, but the lines extended for blocks, noting, “It was so beautiful” to see all the people coming to honor him. 

“Part of heaven touched earth and part of earth touched heaven,” noted a young priest on the video, referring to Father Rother’s presence in South America, which brought hope to a nearly forgotten people.  

“It’s essential to emphasize how ordinary he was,” Maria reminded in the account; an ordinary person who became a martyr and, hopefully soon, will be named a saint — proving that we can all do great things for God, even in our ordinariness. 

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Copyright 2025 Roxane Salonen
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