São Paulo

Fifteen years ago, the American nun Dorothy Mae Stang was shot to death at the age of 73 in Anapu, Pará.

The missionary was killed with six shots, in an ambush, in the area of the PDS (Sustainable Development Project) in the Esperança settlement.

Dorothy had Brazilian citizenship and worked with the CPT (Pastoral Land Commission), an arm of the Catholic Church that works with rural workers. Two men approached her at a farmers' meeting in Anapu, on February 12, 2005.

File Photo- Dorothy May Stang, (Carlos Silva/Divulgação) - Divulgação

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice because they will be fed up." So, with the Bible in hand, Dorothy Stang read to her killers the passage - and two others - before she was shot. When asked if she was armed, she displayed the Bible and said it was her "only weapon."

An eyewitness recounted the crime scene to Folha. The person also said that there was an argument.

Dorothy asked them not to plant grass in the PDS, as it disturbed the settlers' gardens. Clodoaldo Carlos Batista, Eduardo, replied that if she uprooted the grass they planted, it would put lives at risk. Rayfran das Neves Sales, Fogoió, then stepped away and shot her.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

Read the article in the original language