He Listened to Us

He Listened to Us is a memoir by Maya community leader Juan Ajtzip in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, focusing on his relationship with Blessed Stanley Rother, who was martyred there in 1981. Rother, a missionary priest from Oklahoma, has been declared a martyr for the faith and was beatified by Pope Francis in 2017. He lived among the Tz'utujil Maya people of Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, from 1968 until his assassination on July 28, 1981. Guided by his deep sense of pastoral vocation, Rother defended the dignity of the Tz'utujil after centuries of racism and repression, inspiring Maya community leaders to launch their own social initiatives. In this memoir, Juan Ajtzip, who worked closely with Rother, offers the first account of his impact in a Mayan voice. The result is a memory of Rother, embedded in a memoir of Juan's own life, embedded within the "Atiteca" community.