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Today’s missionary hero is Dorothy Stang, a Catholic Religious Sister who devoted her life to the poor workers of the Amazon Rain Forest.
Dorothy, whose friends called her Dot, was born in 1931 in Dayton, Ohio into a family of nine children. When she was 17 years old, Dorothy entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, and in 1953 she was sent to serve the poor in Arizona.
In 1966, Sr. Dorothy volunteered to become a missionary in Brazil. Until her death in 2005, Sr. Dorothy lived and worked with the poorest of the poor in the Brazilian rainforest of the Amazon. Eventually, she even became a Brazilian citizen.
While in the Amazon, Sr. Dorothy learned the various languages of the people. She started many Christian base communities, founded 23 schools, and started many parishes in rural areas. She also created a structure so the poor could claim their land. She fed the hungry and taught people about Jesus and his Church. She founded community centers for women and taught people that all human beings are to be treated with respect.
Despite her wonderful work, though, Sr. Dorothy made many enemies. While she was working in the Amazon, for example, there were corrupt ranchers and illegal loggers who stole land from the poor and kept them in misery. Corrupt government officials would turn a blind eye to the sufferings of the poor and the illegal acts of the loggers and ranchers. Dorothy, however, was continually confronting the loggers and ranchers and government officials and all who were trying to destroy the Amazon rain forest and poor people. She always included the people who hated her, in her daily prayers. Because of her fighting for the poor and powerless, she was often harassed.
One time, for example, the police arrested her for passing out what they called “subversive literature.” What she was passing out was the United Nations’ document called Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I suppose that, for those in power, such a document would indeed be subversive, just as was the message of Jesus Christ.
Because she was such an outspoken champion of the poor and powerless, those in power often sent her death threats. These threats, however, did nothing to stop Dorothy. On the contrary, they probably only helped to deepen her commitment to serving Christ by serving the people. In addition to death threats, the rich and powerful often sent her hate mail and insulted her. In 2002, the death threats intensified, and a mayor of a nearby town said, “We have to get rid of that woman if we are going to have peace.” A list of people with “bounties” on their heads was distributed. The first name on the list was Sr. Dorothy’s name with a bounty of $20,000.
Dorothy, though, always stood fearless with the poor and the powerless. She said, “I know that they want to kill me, but I will not go away. My place is here alongside these people who are constantly humiliated by the powerful.” A few months before she was killed, she told a sister in her order, “I just want to sink myself into God.”
In the final year of her life, Sr. Dorothy went to Ohio to visit her family. When she returned, she discovered that the government claimed she was trying to organize an armed rebellion, a totally trumped-up charge.
A few days before her death, Dorothy was talking to a novice about prayer. She said, “I look at Jesus carrying the cross and I ask for the strength to carry the suffering of the people.” The day before she died, she said, “If something is going to happen, I hope it happens to me, because the others have families to care for.”
On February 12, 2005, Sr. Dorothy was walking along a dirt road deep in the heart of the Amazon on her way to meet poor farmers who were being harassed by illegal loggers and ranchers. Suddenly, two hired assassins blocked her way. She showed them documents to prove the land belonged to the poor, but they did not listen. Instead, they asked her if she had a weapon. She said that she did, a Bible. She then opened it and began to read aloud, “Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice. Blessed are the peacemakers…” Then she said, “God bless you, my sons.” At that moment, the two assassins shot her six times and ran.
Her body lay on the dirt road all day because people were afraid that they would be shot if they moved it. When the rains came, her blood mixed with the dirt.
At her funeral, two thousand people marched and hundreds of reporters from all over the world descended on the area. Because of the international publicity, the Brazilian President created two new national parks and set aside millions of acres of land for protection.
