Stanley When
Fr. Stanley Francis Rother was murdered in his Guatemala rectory in 1981, Pope Francis decreed “he had been killed in odium fidei (in hatred of the faith), which led to his beatification just last month. Beloved by his congregation, the farmer’s son, who was not afraid of lending a helping hand to his impoverished parishioners, refused to leave a war-torn Guatemala when his own life was in danger. saying, “
A shepherd does not leave his flock.” After his death, this first US-born martyr was buried back home in Oklahoma, but his heart was preserved in an altar at his church in Santiago. Stanley, which means “near the stoney meadow” or “stone clearing.” certainly helped clear the way for his beloved people and can inspire any boy for generations to come.