Sister Dorothy Stang

Dorothy Mae Stang (June 14, 1940–February 12, 2005) was an American-born, Brazilian sister of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur order, who was murdered in Anapu, a city in the state of Pará, in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. Stang was outspoken in her efforts on behalf of the poor and the environment, and had previously received death threats from loggers and land owners. Image File history File links Sister Dorothy Stang, SND (1931-2005) Dorothy Stang (died February 12, 2005) was an American nun of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur congregation and naturalized Brazilian who was shot to death in Anapu, city of the state of Pará, Amazon Rainforest, Brazil. ... Image File history File links Sister Dorothy Stang, SND (1931-2005) Dorothy Stang (died February 12, 2005) was an American nun of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur congregation and naturalized Brazilian who was shot to death in Anapu, city of the state of Pará, Amazon Rainforest, Brazil. ... June 14 is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 12 is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Nun (disambiguation). ... The Institute of Notre-Dame de Namur, commonly known as the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, is a Roman Catholic order of religious sisters, dedicated to providing education to the poor. ... A Taoist monk playing an instrument. ... Anapu is a Brazilian city of Pará state. ... Flag of Pará See other Brazilian States Capital Belém Largest City Belém Area 1. ... Amazon River basin The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. ...

Life work and murder

Sister Dorothy, born in Dayton, Ohio but a naturalized Brazilian citizen, worked as an advocate for the rural poor beginning in the early 1970s, helping peasants make a living by farming small plots and extracting forest products without deforestation. She also sought to protect them from criminal gangs who were after their land. Dot, as she was called by her family, friends and most locals in Brazil, is often pictured wearing a t-shirt with the slogan, "A Morte da floresta é o fim da nossa vida," which is Portuguese for "The death of the forest is the end of our life." : Gem City : Birthplace of Aviation United States Ohio Montgomery 56. ... In law, naturalization refers to an act whereby a person acquires a citizenship different from that persons citizenship at birth. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forest land use such as arable land, pasture, urban use, logged area or wasteland. ...

Murder

Stang was reading from the Bible when two gunmen aimed weapons at her as she walked to a meeting in the Amazon jungle. According to witnesses, while being held at gunpoint she read a line from the Gospel of Matthew: "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied."^[1] She was shot and killed at point-blank range, and then the gunmen shot her body 5 more times. A river in the Amazon rainforest The Amazon is a rainforest in South America. ... The Gospel of Matthew (literally, according to Matthew; Greek, Κατά Μαθθαίον or Κατά Ματθαίον, Kata Maththaion or Kata Matthaion) is a synoptic gospel in the New Testament, one of four canonical gospels. ...

An article in the July/August 2005 issue ^[2] of Maryknoll magazine shows a particularly shocking picture of Stang's body, facing away from the camera, shortly after she was shot. It is accompanied by an article written by her brother, David Stang. Maryknoll [1] or, the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, is an American Catholic Society of Apostolic Life which has, throughout its nearly hundred-year history, had an exclusive emphasis on ministry and missionary work overseas, particularly East Asia, in China, Japan, Korea, Latin America, and Africa. ...

In June 2005, two men from Brazil were charged with conspiracy to murder an American outside the United States in connection with her death. These men, Rayfran das Neves Sales and Clodoaldo Carlos Batista, were convicted on December 10, 2005. December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, 21 days before the next year. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On 15 May 2007, a court in the city of Belem sentenced Vitalmiro Bastos Moura, age 36, to the maximum term of 30 years in prison for paying gunmen to shoot Sister Dorothy. Stang's brother David, who was at the trial, said "justice was done". is the 135th day of the year (136th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

Prosecutors said Moura had ordered Stang's death because she had sent letters to the local authorities accusing Moura of setting illegal fires to clear land, which led to him receiving a substantial fine.

See also

• Wilson Pinheiro
• Vicente Canas
• Chico Mendes
• Environment of Brazil
• Indigenous People in Brazil

Wilson Pinheiro was the president of the Brasiléia Rural Workers Union in the State of Acre in Brazil. ... Vicente Canas was a Christian missionary who is credited with making the first peaceful contact with the Enawene Nawe Indian tribe in 1974. ... Chico Mendes on a river in Amazonia. ... The majority of biodiversity on the planet Earth, approximately two thirds of all species, are found in tropical areas, which is often where developing contries are. ... The Indigenous peoples in Brazil (povos indígenas in Portuguese) comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who inhabited the countrys present territory prior to its discovery by Europeans around 1500. ...

References

1. ^  reference to an Article in the January 2007 issue of National Geographic (http://nationalgeographic.com)
2. ^  Article in the July/August 2005 issue of Maryknoll (maryknoll.org)

External links

• Sydney Morning Herald article on the killing, February 27, 2005
• The Student, the Nun & the Amazon (studentnunamazon.com)
• The Amazing Grace of Sr. Dorothy Stang (www.sndden.org)
• In Memory of Dorothy Stang