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Brazilian rancher convicted of nun’s murder

18 Apr 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist expresses gratitude this Sunday that the Lord "did not let my enemies rejoice over me." A court in Brazil has sentenced a rancher to 30 years in prison for ordering the murder in 2005 of U.S.-born nun Dorothy Stang over a land dispute. Stang had lived for decades in the Amazon region advocating for the rural poor and opposing deforestation. The much-delayed process of convicting her killers became a test of Brazil's ability to tackle widespread impunity from such crimes in the region. Vitalmiro Moura, 39, was given the maximum sentence Monday after a jury in the Amazon port city of Belem found him guilty of hiring a gunman to kill 73-year-old Stang. A member of the Sisters of Notre de Namur, Stang was born in Dayton, Ohio but was naturalized as a Brazilian citizen and devoted nearly 40 years of her life to helping landless peasants threatened by loggers and ranchers. Locals affectionately called her "the angel of the Amazon." Moura had received the same sentence previously but it was overturned in 2008, a decision Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had called a "stain" on Brazil's image abroad. A retrial was ordered after it was determined that jurors had ignored evidence pointing to Moura's guilt in reaching their verdict. Stang's murder became a symbol of the often-violent conflicts over natural resources in the vast Amazon region. The Land Pastoral Commission, which monitors conflicts over land in Brazil, says 365 people were murdered in such disputes between 1999 and 2008. Commission spokeswoman Cristiane Passos welcomed the judgment but said the government and justice system need to pay more attention to violent conflicts over land as the problem still claims many lives. "It's still far from the end of the violence," Passos said. Source: An article by Peter Murphy for Reuters and dorothystang.org

murder dorothy stang brazil land amazon vitalmiro moura sisters of notre de namur land pastoral commission cristiane passos
Homily stories

12 Jun 2011 - Solemnity of Pentecost, Cycle A

The Lord brings spirit into us so that we may come to life, the prophet Ezekiel tells us, and that is what we believe happened at Pentecost for the disciples and what happens with Christians in every age as we confirm our faith in Jesus. It is not a one-time event, however. To stay alive in Christ we must continually breathe in the Lord's Spirit. Notre Dame de Namur Sister Dorothy Stang, the Rainforest martyr who would have turned 80 this June, is someone who breathed deeply in the Spirit. The people of the Anapou region in the Amazon Basin, where she lived for nearly 40 years, called her the Angel of the Amazon for her dedication to protecting the rights of the rural poor and helping them practice sustainable farming. But like anyone filled with the transforming Spirit of Christ, Stang alienated powerful and monied people who preferred the status quo. After years of confrontations with landowners who saw the poor farmers and their activist friends as obstacles in their plans for development, Stang became the target of hired assassins. On February 5, 2006, as she walked down a jungle road, Stang was confronted by gunmen who asked if she was armed. "Only with my bible," she replied and began reading, "Blessed are the poor in Spirit . . ." She was shot six times. Sister Dorothy Stang had Spirit. How about you?

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

dorothy stang spirit Bible Pentecost

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Homily stories

21 Jun 2020 - Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Sister Dorothy Stang, a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, was murdered in 2005 by a pair of gunmen as she walked along a rural road in Brazil’s Amazon region. Stang had been receiving death threats for years because of her work on land reform, peasants’ rights, and environmental issues and had asked the government on a number of occasions for better protection for the people in this isolated area, whom loggers and large landowners wanted elsewhere. A witness to the shooting said that when her assailants approached, Stang said, “You men are armed. I am not. The only defense I carry is the word of God.” She pulled out a Bible and began to read to them. Her killers listened for a moment, took a few steps back, and fired. There is no doubt that Sister Dorothy followed Jesus’ command to fear no one. She is now surely being acknowledged before God. But what I find almost unbelievable is that the gunmen actually paused to listen to Stang read from the Bible. What could possibly have been going through their minds as she read? Perhaps Sister Dorothy’s steadfast witness even unto death had an impact on these hardened hearts, and they may someday find the courage to seek forgiveness. In the meantime, I pray that we all might find the courage to love so courageously.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

Courage dorothy stang

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