October 8, 2023 - "Sister Dorothy Mae Stang"

Dorothy Mae Stang was born in Dayton, Ohio on June 7, 1931.  After she graduated from high school in 1948, she entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Sr. Dorothy professed her final vows in 1956. From 1951 to 1966 she taught in Catholic elementary schools in Illinois and Arizona. In 1966 she volunteered to work in Brazil.  Eventually she was drawn to the remote regions of the Amazon and the cause of poor farmers who were exploited and robbed by rich loggers and cattle barons.  Because of her criticisms of illegal logging and her continual defense of poor farmers, her co-workers named her “the steel flower.”
 
Bishop Erwin Kräutler who was Sr. Dorothy’s supervisor in Brazil once told David Stang, a brother of Sr. Dorothy, how he met her.  At 10:00 p.m. one night she knocked on his door.  He asked her why she was there. “I want you to tell me where are the poorest of the poor in your prelature. I would like to work with them.” Bishop Kräutler was astounded by this first meeting with him.  He reported that the other nuns went through bureaucratic procedures and documents but not Sr. Dorothy.  Bishop Kräutler was duly impressed.  There was no way he was going to turn her down.  Later on, he reported that she was a very decided woman who made strong decisions.  He noted that Sr Dorothy understood that a missionary has to walk with the people who have no voice.  She gave her life to defend their rights.  The bishop strong believed that hers was an evangelical life.
 
Felicio Pontes, a Brazilian lawyer who worked closely with Sr. Dorothy in documenting the rights of poor farmers remarked that sustainable agriculture was Sr. Dorothy’s great contribution to the Amazon.  She started cocoa production with a group of small farmers near Anapu (Brazil), using seeds that were native to the region.  They grew quickly and produced a bumper crop in three years.  Attorney Pontes said this was a great example of integral ecology. The farmers had nothing but in a few short years they had money to purchase cars and to improve their lives.  It was a small project but the landowners and ranchers considered it a serious threat to them. (Integral ecology refers to an integrated and holistic approach to political, social, economic, and environmental problems.  Integral ecology means that everything is connected and decisions made by people affect creation, others, and future generations.  Pope Francis popularized the concept of integral ecology in Laudato Si).
 
Well into her seventies, Sr. Dorothy would walk slowly and with heavy steps because of the mud and thick forests to attend prayer services and labor meanings.  On the morning of February 12, 2005, Sr. Dorothy woke up early to walk to a community meeting to speak about the rights of Amazon.  A local farmer who she had invited to the meeting was a couple of minutes behind her.  The farmer was able to see and hid from two armed men who followed her.  Eventually they blocked her and asked her if she had any weapons.  Sr. Dorothy claimed that the only weapon that she had was the Bible.  She then read a passage from the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” She continued a couple of steps when they fired a round into her abdomen, her back, and then four rounds into her head.
 
Sr. Dorothy’s death aroused the Brazilian government and the whole world to the cause of ecology and justice for which she offered her life.
 
Let me close this column with a quote from Sr. Dorothy: “I light a candle and look at Jesus on the cross and ask for the strength to carry the suffering of the people. Don’t worry about my safety. The safety of the people is what is important.”
 
Until next week,
Fr. John