Washington D.C., Mar 30, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The chairman of the bishops’ International Policy Committee has commended a congressional resolution honoring the work of American Sr. Dorothy Stang among the poor farmers of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. Sr. Stang was assassinated Feb. 12.
In a letter to U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ, of Pensacola-Tallahassee said Sr. Stang was assassinated because of her “advocacy for the poor.”
Bishop Ricard wished Ryan success in gathering a large number of co-sponsors for H.Con.Res. 89. The resolution as introduced March 9; it currently has 24 co-sponsors.
The resolution notes that Sr. Stang “lived her life according to the mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame [de Namur]: making known God's goodness and love of the poor through a Gospel way of life, community, and prayer, while continuing a strong educational tradition and taking a stand with the poor people especially women and children, in the most abandoned places, and committing her one and only life to work with others to create justice and peace for all.”