Review of American Martyr: The Stanley Rother Story

Distribution Service: Fathom Entertainment
MPAA Rating, Not rated at the time of this review
Reel Rating: 3 out of 5 reels

There’s a famous anonymous statistic that the 20th century produced more martyrs than the previous 19 combined. I was always skeptical of this assertion, but when you start to crunch the raw numbers (the Russian Revolution, Spanish Civil War, Nazi persecution, various Communist movements), combined with a higher world population and advances in technology, it makes sense.

One of these many martyrs was Stanley Rother, a humble priest who desired to simply serve his parish but whom God raised to the glory of martyrdom to “lift up the lowly.” American Martyr is a new documentary, in theaters for only a few days, that does a great job introducing the life of this new member of the Roman Calendar and provides yet another candidate in the race to first American born male saint.

Stanley Rother started his life as an unassuming Okie with all the hallmarks of a classic Midwestern upbringing. He went to Mass every Sunday, milked cows at 4:30am, skipped school to harvest wheat, and had bad childhood memories of the dust bowl. He struggled in seminary to learn Latin and was kicked out for bad grades after six years. It would have been easy to return to the farm, but he was convinced God was calling him to the priesthood. He entered seminary in Maryland and was finally ordained at almost thirty in 1963. He returned to his home state and was an ordinary parish priest until he took an assignment with a sister mission in Guatemala that served the indigenous Tzʼutujil people. He quickly became a welcomed and beloved member of the community: getting food to the malnourished, teaching irrigation techniques, training catechists, and – most importantly – bringing the sacraments to a remote region. As with many Latin American countries in the mid-20^th century, Guatemala soon descended into dictatorship and civil war. Fearing for his life, Rother briefly left for the United States but soon decided to return. He was murdered by militants only weeks later, just for the crime of ministering to the natives.

The first half of the documentary does an amazing job highlighting Rother’s early life, including interviews with his relatives, friends, parishioners, and colleagues. The film goes to great length to explain his “ordinary” nature. At time of great upheaval in the Church, he seemed to only want to bring Jesus to others. He wasn’t interested in liturgical wars, following the Novus Ordo faithfully but reverently. His letters contain precious little talk of high doctrine or mystical insights but are full of concerns about someone’s sick uncle or a child who needs money for school. He rarely ate dinner alone, preferring to eat at the homes of his parishioners. Pope Francis said that a pastor should “smell like his sheep.” Rother must have reeked – in the best way possible.

One frustrating aspect of the film is the lack of political context. The audience is never told exactly why Rother’s assassins targeted him. Were they ordered by the government? Were they going rogue? There isn’t even a discussion about whether the death squads were right or left wing, though murder is murder no matter the political faction. Perhaps this is the point. Rother did help native people meet and discuss working conditions. He also tried to help people find loved ones who were kidnapped. Yet there is no evidence he ever subscribed to any specific political ideology or mentioned policies in his homilies. It appears he was marked for death just because he didn’t actively support the regime or simply because he was a man of prominence in the community who wasn’t a party member. The Church’s decree of martyrdom implies they have good evidence the killers were anti-Christian, so that’s the most likely scenario.

It is often said that God chooses unlikely candidates to do His will. This certainly describes Rother. He couldn’t learn even basic Latin yet was fluent in an obscure central American dialect. He never spoke about politics but was considered so dangerous the authorities saw it necessary to kill him. He didn’t want fame, and now he has a theatrical documentary. He never wanted anything but just serve his people, and now he will have the chance to hear millions of prayers through the ages. It’s yet another beautiful example if we simply follow God’s direction, extraordinary things will happen. I still think Fulton Sheen will be our first male saint (maybe by the first American Pope), but I would be sad if it was Rother.

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