Love in a Fearful Land

Overview

This is Henri Nouwen's personal account of a pilgrimage to Santiago Atitlán, a Mayan town in the highlands of Guatemala. It was there that an American priest, Father Stanley Rother, was murdered by a death squad in the parish where he served. In traveling to Santiago Nouwen hoped to learn more about this modern martyr, about the faith that drew him there, and the love that held him in place, even when his life was at stake.

Illustrated with black and white photos, this edition of Love in a Fearful Land commemorates the twenty-fifth anniversary of Fr. Rother's death. In commemorating Fr. Stan's witness, it also celebrates the truth that we are all, Christians of the North and the South, members of the same Body of Christ.

Henri Nouwen was born in Holland in 1932 and ordained a Catholic priest in 1957.  He obtained a doctoral degree in psychology from Nijmegen University in the Netherlands and taught at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard.  He experienced the monastic life with Trappist monks at the Abbey of the Genesee, lived among the poor in Latin America, and was interested and active in numerous causes related to social justice.  After a lifetime of seeking, Henri Nouwen finally found his home in Canada, as pastor of L'Arche Daybreak - a community where intellectually handicapped people and their caregivers live together in community. Henri Nouwen wrote over 40 books on spirituality and the spiritual life that have sold millions of copies and been translated into dozens of languages.  His vision of spirituality was broad and inclusive, and his compassion embraced all of humankind. He died in 1996.  His work and his spirit live on.

Peter Weiskel, who worked with Henri Nouwen in the early 1980s, lives in the Boston area.