Stanley Francis Rother (/ˈroʊθər/ ROH-thər; March 27, 1935 – July 28, 1981) was an American Catholic priest from Oklahoma who was murdered in Guatemala in 1981.

[2] Following consultation with Bishop Victor Reed of Oklahoma City, Rother attended Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, from which he graduated in 1963.

In 1968, at his own request, Reed assigned him to the diocese's mission to the Tz'utujil people (also spelled “Tz'utuhil”) of Santiago Atitlán in the rural highlands of southwest Guatemala.

[4] By 1975, Rother had become the de facto leader of the Oklahoma-sponsored mission effort in Guatemala as other religious and lay supporters rotated out of the program.

[2][3] Since there was no Tz'utujil equivalent for "Stanley," the people of Rother's mission affectionately called him "Padre Apla's” ("Father Francis”), a nod to his other given name.

Some of his catechists and parishioners would disappear and later be found dead, their corpses showing signs of beating and torture; Rother knew all this upon returning to Guatemala in May 1981.

In December 1980, he had written a letter to the faithful in Oklahoma describing the violent situation: "This is one of the reasons I have for staying in the face of physical harm.

"[2] In the beginning of 1981, Rother was warned that his name was eighth on a hit list of right-wing death squads, and that he should immediately leave Guatemala to stay alive.

The three men arrested admitted to having entered the church in a robbery attempt, and to having shot Rother dead when the priest tried stopping them.

On December 1, 2016, his beatification received approval from Pope Francis who confirmed that Rother had been killed "in odium fidei" ("in hatred of the faith").

Rother was beatified on September 23, 2017, at the Cox Convention Center, with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the CCS, presiding on the pope's behalf.

[15] On February 17, 2023, a dedication Mass was held, marking the official opening of the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine in Oklahoma City.

[17] Built in the Spanish Colonial style, the design mirrors the parish church where Rother served and was martyred in Guatemala.