Nearing the end of our visit to Guatemala, we visited the small town of Santiago Atitlán, across Lake Atitlán from our hotel stay the prior night. This town is scenic and interesting, but also suffers a tragic history, so we experienced many contrasts.
We enjoyed a sunny boat trip across the crater lake of Atitlán, which is surrounded by volcanic peaks, coming to the foot of the hilly town of Santiago Atitlán. We grouped into small “tuk-tuks” to get up the steep cobbled streets. We quickly saw the beauty and tragedy of the place.
Our first stop was the Peace Park, where in 1990, a group of local people who had gathered in peaceful protest were slaughtered by soldiers from the adjacent military garrison. Now by mutual agreement, there is no longer a military presence within the city. Immediately after this, we enjoyed beautiful views from a shady hilltop overlooking the deep blue lake, where we saw local women washing clothes on the lakeshore.
We visited the beautiful Roman Catholic church, Iglesia Catolica Santiago Apostol, where American priest Father Stanley Rother had served from 1968 until his death in 1981. Sunday services were underway, and the large wooden doors of the sanctuary stood open, with people overflowing onto the front porch and shady cloisters surrounding an adjacent garden to hear the service. The church was FULL, a contrast to many of our home churches on Sunday mornings!
We visited a small chapel there dedicated to Father Rother, where we learned more of his life and service. Stanley Rother was a tall, pale, red-haired American who didn’t know the language, but who by his request was assigned to the church in Guatemala in 1968 as an outreach to the Mayan-descended Tz’utujil people. Father Rother quickly went to work and learned Tz’utujil so he could preach to the people, which he reportedly achieved within a year of coming (despite his reported academic challenges in seminary), and he translated the New Testament into Tz’utujil. The people came to love and trust Father Rother.
However, authorities were suspicious of his liberation theology that suggested justice and land reforms were needed to right the many years of economic exploitation of indigenous people in the country. Several people working with him “disappeared” and later were found murdered, and he reluctantly fled to the US for a short time, but he did not feel right abandoning his flock. He returned during Holy Week in 1981 to much celebration, but just months later was shot to death when three men broke into the church at night.
We were impressed by the persistent faith of the people in the face of decades of challenges, by the willing service of people from many places to improve the lives of others, by the colorful produce and fabrics of the marketplace, and the warm greetings we experienced throughout our visit to Santiago.
If you’d like more details of the inspiring life of Father Stanley Rother, please consult the Wikipedia link below or other sources: Stanley Rother – Wikipedia.
~ Jeff Long
Great Blog Jeff.