Stanley Rother
American priest, Martyr and Blessed (1935–1981)
Feast: 28 July (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 1 December 2016 — Martyrdom recognised (decree list, 2016)
Who they were
Stanley Francis Rother was born on 27 March 1935 at Okarche, Oklahoma, to a farming family of German origin, and grew up on the farm. He persevered through difficult studies and was ordained in May 1963.
In June 1968 he joined the Oklahoma mission in Guatemala, in the diocese of Sololá. In years when journalists, peasants, catechists and priests were killed on false charges of communism, he stayed with his people, and was murdered at one in the morning of 28 July 1981, aged 46, in hatred of the faith, for his evangelisation and work for the poor.
The miracles
As a martyr he was beatified without a miracle. He was the first martyr recognised from the United States.
Why that counted as sanctity
A farm boy from Oklahoma who stayed with his Guatemalan people and died for them.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Stanley Francis Rother
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q2377024 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Stanley Rother (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.