Dorothy Stang

Sister Dorothy Mae Stang, S.N.D.
Born	Dorothy Mae Stang (1931-07-07)7 July 1931 Dayton, Ohio, United States
Died	12 February 2005(2005-02-12) (aged 73) Anapu, Pará, Brazil
Cause of death	Murder
Nationality	Naturalized Brazilian
Known for	Amazonian activism
Notes
Venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as a Martyr of Faith and Charity

Sister Dorothy Mae Stang, S.N.D., (7 July 1931 – 12 February 2005) was an American-born, Brazilian member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. She was murdered in Anapu, a city in the state of Pará, in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. Stang had been outspoken in her efforts on behalf of the poor and the environment, and had previously received death threats from loggers and land owners. Her cause for canonization as a martyr and model of sanctity is underway within the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Stang, born in Dayton, Ohio, US, 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 peasants from criminal gangs working on behalf of ranchers who were after their plots. 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 Lives".

On the morning of 12 February 2005, Stang woke up early to walk to a community meeting to speak about the rights for the Amazon. Ciero, a farmer Stang invited to the meeting, was going to be late. Ciero was a couple of minutes behind Stang, but he was able to see her and hid from the two armed men who followed her. She progressed on and was blocked by the two men, Clodoaldo Carlos Batista and Raifran das Neves Sales, who worked in a livestock compagnie. They asked if she had any weapons, and she claimed that the only weapon would be her Bible. She then read a passage from the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." She continued a couple of steps but was suddenly stopped when Ciero called her, "Sister," as she was held at gun point by Raifran. When Clodoaldo approved of discharging at Stang, Raifran fired a round at Stang's abdomen. She fell face down on the ground. Raifran fired another round into Stang's back, then fired all four remaining rounds into her head.