The Reason To Go

I have some mixed feeling about going back to Santiago Atitlan once again. This would be my 10th visit in 6 years.

I always enjoy my visits there, but the travelling is nerve wracking on the Guatemala highways, what with the ever present threat of bandits.

This trip though will be made more out of a sense of responsibility and, I suppose you would call it, patriotism.

This visit is to be a part of the commemoration of the murder of Fr. Stanley Rother, the Oklahoma priest killed by a paramilitary death squad on July 28, 1981. Fr. Rother is considered by many to be a martyr for the Catholic Church. He knew that his work on behalf of the poor among the Tzutujil people could be seen as "anti-government" and that his life would be in danger.

In fact, he had left Guatemala for some time earlier that year because of threats. But, once back in Oklahoma, he decided that he needed to return to his parish, because "A pastor does not run."

And so, he was killed, in his own rectory. And so, I go to be a part of a delegation of Oklahomans going to represent his home and his people among the people who adopted him and called him Padre Apla's.

I'm trying to work out the arrangements to take a young seminarian along with me. He has some details to take care of. I've decided not to go alone, so if he ultimately cannot make it, this trip will be off.