Episode 15 - Washington Bullets: The Martyrdom of Father Stanley Rother

Iconoclast of Things

On September 23rd Father Stan Rother will be the first American born martyr beatified by the Catholic church. Though it’s the story of Father Stan Rother, this one doesn’t end in death. Stan Rother was one casualty of the decades long Guatemalan Civil War. A war sparked in the halls of the US congress; fueled in part by our fear of communism and antipathy for any threat to American capitalism abroad. While the killers were Guatemalan, the deaths of Stan Rother and thousands more flicked blood on to American hands. But this is not a murder story. Or even a political story. It’s . . . kind of a love story. The love this Oklahoman had for the people of Santiago Atitlan, and the love they returned. Today’s thing, is this Church at Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala. And this episode is “Washington Bullets: The Martyrdom of Father Stanley Rother”