Committee holds activities in memory of Dorothy Stang in the Amazon

By Viviane Brigida
From the MST Page

Missionary Sister Dorothy Mae Stang, who worked to defend workers in Pará and the Amazon region, was murdered on February 12, 2005 at the age of 73 in the municipality of Anapu, which is on the banks of the Transamazônica in western Pará.

The Dorothy Committee, organized since her death with the participation of the MST, has been carrying out various activities in memory of Dorothy’s legacy and for the struggle of peasants in the Amazon under the slogan “Amazon: a place of struggle and utopia, 16 years since Dorothy Stang’s Martyrdom”.

The nun, who was also a member of the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), an institution linked to the Catholic Church, became known internationally for her strong resistance against farmers, loggers and land grabbers in the Xingu region, in Pará. She was executed with six shots at close range at the behest of the big landowners.

Among the five people involved in Dorothy’s death, all went to trial and were convicted. However, most serve their sentences under house arrest . Her case had international repercussions and even today the families of small farmers are threatened.

Sister Dorothy Stang has become a symbol in defense of rural and forest workers. In Anapu she contributed to the creation of the Esperança Sustainable Development Project (PDS), the first in the region. PDS are examples of sustainable alternatives for families with economic development, productive activity and respect for the environment.

Scheduled events

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, symbolic actions are scheduled in memory of the nun’s legacy. The activities are taking place between the 10th and 12th of February, around the letters written by Sister Dorothy. There will be three days of actions on social networks, with a letter-manifesto for farmers in Anapu, in addition to an interreligious political event that will take place virtually.