Fr. Francis Rother, the martyr

When we planned the mission trip for July 2008, I was a little concerned because we always schedule some tourist time for the people who come with us. Because of the flight schedule we were not able to do this. Since we had never been to this mission before, we did not know their philosophy about mission work. I was please when we arrived to find out that the mission plans an excursion on the lake for the missionaries.

The trip consisted of two stops the first was in Santiago and the second was in Panajachel. We had met this group from California. Absolutely great people, friendly, kind, helpful, and they had been to this mission before. Their group was headed by Deacon Pat Kearns (I stole the idea of a blog from him, We all know that no lawyer has ever had an original idea, they get it from someone else). You can read more about Pat, his family, and San Lucas Toliman on his blog http://www.patkearns.blogspot.com/.

Pat said we should go to the church in Santiago and then shop in Panajachel. We took the approach of , hey you know the neighborhood, we will just follow your lead. Church at Santiago

He took us into a side garden, and then into this tiny room, and I was thinking ...OK this is nice but what is in here, other than a restroom, and I really needed one. He said "This is where Fr. Francis Rother was martyred." I immediately had chills.
Fr. Rother came to Guatemala, in a manner very similar to Fr. Greg. It was a call by the Bishop of Guatemala for priests. When he got there he really connected with the indigenous people. He learned their language, and transcribed the Bible into their native language. The first thing he did when he arrived was plant corn. No priest had ever done this before.
The Maya loved him. Lake Atitlan was a hot bed for the civil war, in Guatemala. From what I've read and heard, the Maya took the brunt of the civil war. It was close to an attempt at Genocide. Fr. Greg became their voice and protector.
Because of this, he was placed on a death list. When word got out about this, he was forced to go back to Oklahoma by his Bishop. He stayed in the U.S. until they thought the heat was off and then he returned to Guatemala.
After he returned, he remained on the death list, and he was warned that he remained in grave danger. In June of 1981, his top catechist was abducted from the steps of the church, and was never seen again.
On July 26 1981 three masked men came to the church. They found a man in his room and forced him at gun point to take them to Fr. Rother. As they approached Father's room, the man warned Father that they had come to get him. Fr. Rother knew that if he allowed these men to take him, he would be tortured, killed and his body would never be seen again. The army would then use his disappearance against the people in his parish. He decided to fight the men. They shot him. The bullet hole is in the picture on the right. We saw the blood stains which still remain on the wall.
The Maya wanted him to be buried at the church. His family wanted his body here in the U.S. They came to an agreement, his heart and a gallon of his blood (both are very important to the Mayan people) would be buried in Guatemala and the rest of his body would be buried in the U.S.
Ten years ago the church was being renovated and his heart had to be moved. Fr. Greg was present . When the heart and blood were removed
His heart was still pink and fleshy, and his blood was still liquid.
They have applied for Sainthood for Fr. Rother. The beatification of his heart and blood is the first miracle, and they are looking for two more.



The plaque dedicating the chapel

The Chapel