Denver Catholic

12 SEPTEMBER 23-OCTOBER 13, 2017 | DENVER CATHOLIC Around the Archdiocese C F & C S N C A M A D For more information cfcsDenver.org MT. OLIVET CATHOLIC CEMETERY 12801 W. 44th Avenue Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 (303) 424-7785 ST. SIMEON CATHOLIC CEMETERY 22001 E. State Hwy. 30 Aurora, CO 80018 (720) 859-9785 ARCHDIOCESE OF DENVER FUNERAL CENTER Serving the greater Denver area (303) 425-9511 Start planning today: Funeral | Cremation | Cemetery | Family Estates S AT U R DAY, O C TO B E R 1 4 T H S T. D O M I N I C PA R I S H 2 9 T H & F E D E R A L S P O N S O R E D BY S T D O M I N I C D E N V E R . O R G / O K T O B E R F E S T Sister Margaret Thomas, O.P., Thank You for your service and fi delity to God and His people, On the occasion of Your 70 th Jubilee. May God continue to shower you with His blessings as you live and teach the Gospel to His people. Father Nathan Goebel The Parishioners and Staff of Saint Joan of Arc Arvada, Colorado as you live and teach the Gospel to His people. BY CARMEN ELENA VILLA F ather Stanley Fra ncis Rother, an Oklahoma native, knew his life was in danger. Why? Because he was a missionary priest in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, an area a‹ ected by the confl ict between the government and guerrillas in the 1980s. "The shepherd cannot run at the fi rst sign of danger," he told his friends when they encouraged him to leave his mission fi eld. This priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City will be beatifi ed Sept. 23; the Holy See has recognized him as a martyr. Father Rother was killed because of his faith on July 28, 1981, in Guatemala. Denver Catholic spoke with the pos- tulator of his cause of canonization, Andrea Ambrosi, who noted that the priest faced adversity with "courage, a smile, prudence and readiness to serve." HIS LIFE Stanley Francis Rother was born March 27, 1935, in Okarche, Oklahoma, to a very religious farming family of German descent. He received solid religious formation at the Holy Trin- ity school and parish, and at home. The seed of faith fell on fertile ground and he heard a call to the priesthood. His time in the seminary was not free of obstacles, however, particularly in the academic realm. Stanley struggled to learn Latin and even left the school for a time, until the bishop, Victor Reed, suggested that he transfer to Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, Maryland. After great e‹ ort, he managed to complete his theology studies and was ordained a priest on May 25, 1963. In the spring of 1968, Oklahoma was visited by Father Ramón Carlin, who came seeking priests who might feel called to serve in Santiago Atitlán, Gua- temala, responding to a call that Pope John XXIII had made to U.S. priests, inviting them to work as missionaries in Central America. Father Stan felt this call, and was assigned to the mission at Micatokla, part of the Catholic Mission of Santiago Atitlán in the region of Sololá, Guate- mala. The Oklahoma priest left for his new mission that same year, in 1968. He was 33 years old. He began to serve a population of some 30,000 inhabitants in the Tz'utujil community, made up of descendants of the Mayans, Ladinos and Spanish. The area was very poor, dependent on farm- ing, fi shing, commerce and handcrafted goods. At the beginning, the° new pastor could communicate only with gestures, but little by little he learned Spanish and Tz'utujil. His work was not solely focused on pastoral ministry and liturgy, however. With the great advantage of having grown up on a farm, he quickly began to assist in building structures so that the sololatecos (residents of Solola) could live with greater dignity. He would go about fi xing a bathroom fl oor here The shepherd cannot run at the fi rst sign of danger." FATHER STANLEY FRANCIS ROTHER Stanley Francis Rother, a shepherd who didn't run " F he was a missionary priest in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, an area a‹ ected by the confl ict between the government and guerrillas in the 1980s. fi rst sign of danger," he told his of Oklahoma City will be beatifi ed

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