February 13, 2022

11:02

Malu Dacio – from Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Seventeen years ago the Para municipality of Anapu, 730 km distant from Belém, was the scene of one of the greatest losses for the Amazon and the forest protection movements. On February 12, 2005, at the age of 73, the life of the American missionary Sister Dorothy Stang was cowardly cut down.

The missionary was killed with seven shots on a dirt road in the town where she lived. One of Dorothy’s great focuses was on the reduction of land conflicts, a reason raised as the main cause of her murder. 

In 1956 she made her perpetual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Dorothy came to Brazil in 1966, in Maranhão, but it was in the 1970s that she established her work and performance in the Amazon, in the Xingu Region. 

The missionary’s work reached far, making her recognized both nationally and internationally. She was a member of the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) and of the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB).

Dorothy’s story and mission reverberate and inspire generations to this day. CENARIUM MAGAZINE heard from environmentalists who question the violence against the defenders of the Amazon.

Geographer and environmentalist Carlos Durigan defined that Sister Dorothy dedicated her life to doing good. “Her life history in the Amazon demonstrates this. A person who dedicated herself to the social and environmental causes of the Amazon.

Durigan recalled that Dorothy was brutally murdered for defending common and mutual interests important for all humanity. “Very sad to speak of what happened to her and what happens to other people who dedicate their lives to actions to the collective interest, to practice and promote good in the world,” defended the geographer.

“Unfortunately, it was a very strong loss and we still lose people on these action fronts for the good of humanity and the planet. It is very sad. Today, it is a very sad reminder and it still happens in the region,” recalled Carlos.

Criminal actions

Dorothy’s death is not a distant and much less isolated case. In January of this year, Zé do Lago, his wife Marcia and their daughter J. (a minor), three environmentalists, were assassinated by gunfire in São Félix do Xingu, also in the State of Pará.

Read More: Three environmentalists from the same family are murdered in the interior of Pará

“We cannot understand that people who defend issues of collective interest and promote good still suffer from criminal actions. How can we still live in a world where this is possible to exist?”, questioned Durigan.

“There is no planet Earth without Amazonia”

Environmentalist Ricardo Nimuna explains that the pastoral work in rural and forest areas has always consisted of transforming the extractive activity, conserving nature and in generating income (jobs, jobs) properly fair.

He also reminds us that currently there is a lot of hostility related to environmental preservation, agrarian reform, and sustainable development, generating conflicts arising from capitalism. 

Ricardo points out that the federal government itself subliminally encourages such conflicts through actions and procedures in which economic interest is above all.

“And that’s what Sister Dorothy always preached, with the differential of actively participating in such projects. She several times, through the Pastoral, invited the land owners for a peaceful solution, putting at risk the capitalist system existing at the time, causing risk to the lives of the people who fought with Sister Dorothy in search of solutions to the conflicts,” recalled the environmentalist.

“The biggest difficulty is people’s awareness. We need to change the culture of sustainable preservation. Many have never even planted a stone of tucumã, pupunha, however, they have always consumed. Imagine planet Earth without the Amazon”, concluded the environmentalist.