Get E-Mail Updates

Culture Watch Blog

They Killed Sister Dorothy: HBO's Book of Martyrs

by Craig Detweiler 03-27-2009 | 4:00pm
Print
16 Comments | Login or Register to post comments

From Joan of Arc to Sir Thomas More, courageous martyrs continue to inspire us. Their powerful witness is memorialized in homilies, books, and even movies. Yet, it is far too tempting to consider martyrdom an ancient virtue. The film They Killed Sister Dorothy, which premieres on HBO this month, is about modern martyr Sister Dorothy Stang, who organized farmers and peasants into the Sustainable Development Project (PDS) in Brazil's Amazon forest. She also challenged logging interests that threatened the Brazilian rain forest. For that she was murdered -- shot in the back in the nation she served as a missionary for more than 30 years.

Related Reading

Take Action on This Issue

War No More

Ten years. Thousands of lives. Billions of dollars.

They Killed Sister Dorothy is far more than a hagiography for "the Angel of the Amazon." We follow her brother and sister, also Roman Catholic missionaries, in the pursuit of justice amidst corrupt courtrooms and shameless lawyers. Director Daniel Junge's riveting documentary brings Dorothy's heart for her community, fight for economic opportunity, and concern for the environment into vivid detail. Prepare to be humbled, angered, and inspired.

Dorothy grew up in Dayton, Ohio (also home to the narrator of Sister Dorothy, actor Martin Sheen). Her brother, David, recalls how they both took their vows in an earlier era of social action. She arrived in Brazil as a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur in 1967. "Dot" issued early (and frequent) warnings about the fragile state of the rainforest. Her Christian convictions informed her passionate defense of God's creation. Hope arose within the local farmers of Esperanza along with Dorothy's call for land reform. When a well-heeled cabal of loggers and ranchers issued a series of threats, Dorothy's resolve only deepened. They could not dissuade one gentle, faith-fueled nun.

Three men hired to take out Dorothy stand trial. It becomes clear that "they" represent a much larger web of corruption and power that subverts the legal system in Para, Brazil. A particularly brazen defense lawyer puts Dorothy's intentions on trial, even from her grave. Junge does a remarkable job sticking his camera into the courtroom proceedings. The vivid arguments presented by both sides make the fictional drama of Law and Order look mundane by comparison. Can Dorothy's death create a rare opportunity for justice in the lawless state of Para?

I had the privilege of interviewing Junge of Just Media at the recent City of the Angels Film Festival in Hollywood. We discussed the power of film to promote social change. Dorothy's brother, Tom Stang, joined us onstage after the screening. Tom struggled to put words to his feelings for Dot. In that silence, we all shared a holy moment, grieving over the loss of such a heroic servant of God. He ultimately concluded, "Dorothy was a true daughter of the Catholic church. She gave herself to save planet Earth and the people she loved." We desperately need people like Sister Dorothy to fight for the marginalized, to care for our ecosystem, and to build a sustainable future.

It is far too easy to confine saints to history. We may not share Dorothy's call to serve overseas. But vibrant, compassionate, and fearless faith is needed in every community. They Killed Sister Dorothy reminds us that martyrdom remains a shockingly contemporary virtue.

Craig Detweiler is a filmmaker who directs the Reel Spirituality Institute for the Brehm Center at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California. His latest book is Into the Dark: Seeing the Sacred in the Top Films of the 21st Century.

16 Comments | Login or Register to post comments
Sojourners relies on the support of readers like you to sustain our message and ministry.

Related Stories

Resources

Like what you're reading? Get Sojourners E-Mail updates!

by: electro sex

06-26-2009 @ 11:15am

Amen to that Palosaari.

by: electro sex

06-26-2009 @ 11:15am

Amen to that Palosaari.

by: jeanneerling

02-04-2010 @ 2:45pm

My Aunt (Dorothy STang) would agree with you wholeheartedly. She didn't want to be a martyr or Saint and there are many who have gone unnoticed. She will probably not be declared a saint, think that costs some money...not sure why. Anyhow, we need to look around us as you said and recognize the martyrs and saints around us who stand up for God, Jesus and otheres.

by: jeanneerling

02-04-2010 @ 4:45pm

My Aunt (Dorothy STang) would agree with you wholeheartedly. She didn't want to be a martyr or Saint and there are many who have gone unnoticed. She will probably not be declared a saint, think that costs some money...not sure why. Anyhow, we need to look around us as you said and recognize the martyrs and saints around us who stand up for God, Jesus and otheres.

by: Born Again Bird Watcher

03-28-2009 @ 10:27pm

I don't have a subscription to HBO but I will certainly be looking to rent a copy on DVD when it is available. Thanks for the recommendation.

by: jeanneerling

02-04-2010 @ 2:45pm

My Aunt (Dorothy STang) would agree with you wholeheartedly. She didn't want to be a martyr or Saint and there are many who have gone unnoticed. She will probably not be declared a saint, think that costs some money...not sure why. Anyhow, we need to look around us as you said and recognize the martyrs and saints around us who stand up for God, Jesus and otheres.

by: hammerud

03-29-2009 @ 6:38pm

In Revelation (11 I think) it says "God will destroy those who destroyed the earth." It is good that Sister Dorothy was concerned for the environment, social justice, and particularly for saving the people she loved. It is sad that this world kills God's chosen vessels. "Dorothy was a true daughter of the Catholic church. She gave herself to save planet Earth and the people she loved." I'm looking forward to the time when "the desert will blossom as the rose and the lion will lay down with the lamb," the time when the Prince of Peace reigns over this earth, "the time when the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." All of His children who have been martyred will be there then. The final chapter in the story has yet to unfold, but it will.

by: Born Again Bird Watcher

03-28-2009 @ 10:27pm

I don't have a subscription to HBO but I will certainly be looking to rent a copy on DVD when it is available. Thanks for the recommendation.

by: hammerud

03-29-2009 @ 6:38pm

In Revelation (11 I think) it says "God will destroy those who destroyed the earth." It is good that Sister Dorothy was concerned for the environment, social justice, and particularly for saving the people she loved. It is sad that this world kills God's chosen vessels. "Dorothy was a true daughter of the Catholic church. She gave herself to save planet Earth and the people she loved." I'm looking forward to the time when "the desert will blossom as the rose and the lion will lay down with the lamb," the time when the Prince of Peace reigns over this earth, "the time when the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." All of His children who have been martyred will be there then. The final chapter in the story has yet to unfold, but it will.

by: johnwoolman

03-30-2009 @ 8:44pm

I laud your triumphing Sister Dorothy, but I fear me you forget "how great a cloud of witnesses" (as the apostle says) with which we are surrounded.
Your review infers that martyrdom is too easily confined to history; that until Sr. Dorothy, martyrdom, standing firmly for the Gospel faith, was out of the mode! As you do point out, martyrdom is "a shockingly contemporary virtue."
I humbly offer a few others to bolster your claim of just how contemporary is martyrdom - these many men and women, were, in recent years (most within living memory), offered on the altar of sacrifice: Orthodox (and other) priests, monks, nuns and laity who laid down their lives under the Leninist-Stalinist regimes, those who died silent deaths, unheralded by the Western world at all during Mao's oppressive rule, Franz Jaggerstatter, Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the many martyrs of the Nazi death camps, esp. the non-Jews: monks, nuns, laity, those true Christians who shielded Jews, and who, in the face of opposition even from the bishops and pope, upheld the deep and ancient precepts of the Faith, who protested Nazi oppression and cruelty, those members of the White Rose who went to the guillotine under the Nazis, the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador, Oscar Romero, the many Buddhist monks, nuns and laity who have been offered up during the cruel rule of the Khmer Rouge, and continue to be offered up under the present regime in Burma, the small, unremarked number of faithful who have been martyred in the Holy Land of late: those are just a handful of martyrs who have lain down their lives within the recent living memory. Nor, by any means, do I catalog all the martyrs. There are many others of non-Catholic persuasion, of whom we have not yet heard, whose diadems shine now by the glassy sea.
Let all these great martyrs pray for us.
Sister Dorothy's example is not to be unsung, but she is one in a long line of martyrs. We may find them almost anywhere, usually, they are unsung and only a handful will know of their gift. Still, if we look, we will find them, even in the daily news!
Sadly, it is simply that such gifts are not so highly prized these days as once they were. They were held as true Brides of Christ...now, well we live in more secular times, don't we?

by: Free eBooks

09-26-2009 @ 9:01am

She gave herself to save planet Earth and the people she loved." I'm looking forward to the time when "the desert will blossom as the rose and the lion will lay down with the lamb," the time when the Prince of Peace reigns over this earth, "the time when the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea."

by: jeanneerling

02-04-2010 @ 4:45pm

My Aunt (Dorothy STang) would agree with you wholeheartedly. She didn't want to be a martyr or Saint and there are many who have gone unnoticed. She will probably not be declared a saint, think that costs some money...not sure why. Anyhow, we need to look around us as you said and recognize the martyrs and saints around us who stand up for God, Jesus and otheres.

by: Palosaari

03-31-2009 @ 3:13pm

Thank you for this post. I find it sad that we don't remember, in my opinion, the greatest of the American martyrs, the Rev. MLK. By this I mean, we don't remember him as a martyr. He was killed for his faith. He was very directly applying the teachings of Christ, and acting based on his understanding of those teachings- those were his primary and over-arching motivations. And yet we remember him only as a civil rights leader, and not the martyr for the faith that he was. It is good to remember one, but better to remember the other.

Martyrs are traditionally remembered on their birth days- and in the Church, birth days are the day you are born into eternity, the day you were martyred. Let us remember the Rev. Martin Luther King not just on January 15th, but also this April 4th.

by: Free eBooks

09-26-2009 @ 9:01am

She gave herself to save planet Earth and the people she loved." I'm looking forward to the time when "the desert will blossom as the rose and the lion will lay down with the lamb," the time when the Prince of Peace reigns over this earth, "the time when the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea."

by: johnwoolman

03-30-2009 @ 8:44pm

I laud your triumphing Sister Dorothy, but I fear me you forget "how great a cloud of witnesses" (as the apostle says) with which we are surrounded.
Your review infers that martyrdom is too easily confined to history; that until Sr. Dorothy, martyrdom, standing firmly for the Gospel faith, was out of the mode! As you do point out, martyrdom is "a shockingly contemporary virtue."
I humbly offer a few others to bolster your claim of just how contemporary is martyrdom - these many men and women, were, in recent years (most within living memory), offered on the altar of sacrifice: Orthodox (and other) priests, monks, nuns and laity who laid down their lives under the Leninist-Stalinist regimes, those who died silent deaths, unheralded by the Western world at all during Mao's oppressive rule, Franz Jaggerstatter, Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the many martyrs of the Nazi death camps, esp. the non-Jews: monks, nuns, laity, those true Christians who shielded Jews, and who, in the face of opposition even from the bishops and pope, upheld the deep and ancient precepts of the Faith, who protested Nazi oppression and cruelty, those members of the White Rose who went to the guillotine under the Nazis, the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador, Oscar Romero, the many Buddhist monks, nuns and laity who have been offered up during the cruel rule of the Khmer Rouge, and continue to be offered up under the present regime in Burma, the small, unremarked number of faithful who have been martyred in the Holy Land of late: those are just a handful of martyrs who have lain down their lives within the recent living memory. Nor, by any means, do I catalog all the martyrs. There are many others of non-Catholic persuasion, of whom we have not yet heard, whose diadems shine now by the glassy sea.
Let all these great martyrs pray for us.
Sister Dorothy's example is not to be unsung, but she is one in a long line of martyrs. We may find them almost anywhere, usually, they are unsung and only a handful will know of their gift. Still, if we look, we will find them, even in the daily news!
Sadly, it is simply that such gifts are not so highly prized these days as once they were. They were held as true Brides of Christ...now, well we live in more secular times, don't we?

by: Palosaari

03-31-2009 @ 3:13pm

Thank you for this post. I find it sad that we don't remember, in my opinion, the greatest of the American martyrs, the Rev. MLK. By this I mean, we don't remember him as a martyr. He was killed for his faith. He was very directly applying the teachings of Christ, and acting based on his understanding of those teachings- those were his primary and over-arching motivations. And yet we remember him only as a civil rights leader, and not the martyr for the faith that he was. It is good to remember one, but better to remember the other.

Martyrs are traditionally remembered on their birth days- and in the Church, birth days are the day you are born into eternity, the day you were martyred. Let us remember the Rev. Martin Luther King not just on January 15th, but also this April 4th.

Comments sorted by highest rated. After voting you must refresh your page to see the sort order change.

by: Born Again Bird Watcher

03-28-2009 @ 10:27pm

I don't have a subscription to HBO but I will certainly be looking to rent a copy on DVD when it is available. Thanks for the recommendation.

by: Born Again Bird Watcher

03-28-2009 @ 10:27pm

I don't have a subscription to HBO but I will certainly be looking to rent a copy on DVD when it is available. Thanks for the recommendation.

by: hammerud

03-29-2009 @ 6:38pm

In Revelation (11 I think) it says "God will destroy those who destroyed the earth." It is good that Sister Dorothy was concerned for the environment, social justice, and particularly for saving the people she loved. It is sad that this world kills God's chosen vessels. "Dorothy was a true daughter of the Catholic church. She gave herself to save planet Earth and the people she loved." I'm looking forward to the time when "the desert will blossom as the rose and the lion will lay down with the lamb," the time when the Prince of Peace reigns over this earth, "the time when the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." All of His children who have been martyred will be there then. The final chapter in the story has yet to unfold, but it will.

by: hammerud

03-29-2009 @ 6:38pm

In Revelation (11 I think) it says "God will destroy those who destroyed the earth." It is good that Sister Dorothy was concerned for the environment, social justice, and particularly for saving the people she loved. It is sad that this world kills God's chosen vessels. "Dorothy was a true daughter of the Catholic church. She gave herself to save planet Earth and the people she loved." I'm looking forward to the time when "the desert will blossom as the rose and the lion will lay down with the lamb," the time when the Prince of Peace reigns over this earth, "the time when the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." All of His children who have been martyred will be there then. The final chapter in the story has yet to unfold, but it will.

by: johnwoolman

03-30-2009 @ 8:44pm

I laud your triumphing Sister Dorothy, but I fear me you forget "how great a cloud of witnesses" (as the apostle says) with which we are surrounded.
Your review infers that martyrdom is too easily confined to history; that until Sr. Dorothy, martyrdom, standing firmly for the Gospel faith, was out of the mode! As you do point out, martyrdom is "a shockingly contemporary virtue."
I humbly offer a few others to bolster your claim of just how contemporary is martyrdom - these many men and women, were, in recent years (most within living memory), offered on the altar of sacrifice: Orthodox (and other) priests, monks, nuns and laity who laid down their lives under the Leninist-Stalinist regimes, those who died silent deaths, unheralded by the Western world at all during Mao's oppressive rule, Franz Jaggerstatter, Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the many martyrs of the Nazi death camps, esp. the non-Jews: monks, nuns, laity, those true Christians who shielded Jews, and who, in the face of opposition even from the bishops and pope, upheld the deep and ancient precepts of the Faith, who protested Nazi oppression and cruelty, those members of the White Rose who went to the guillotine under the Nazis, the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador, Oscar Romero, the many Buddhist monks, nuns and laity who have been offered up during the cruel rule of the Khmer Rouge, and continue to be offered up under the present regime in Burma, the small, unremarked number of faithful who have been martyred in the Holy Land of late: those are just a handful of martyrs who have lain down their lives within the recent living memory. Nor, by any means, do I catalog all the martyrs. There are many others of non-Catholic persuasion, of whom we have not yet heard, whose diadems shine now by the glassy sea.
Let all these great martyrs pray for us.
Sister Dorothy's example is not to be unsung, but she is one in a long line of martyrs. We may find them almost anywhere, usually, they are unsung and only a handful will know of their gift. Still, if we look, we will find them, even in the daily news!
Sadly, it is simply that such gifts are not so highly prized these days as once they were. They were held as true Brides of Christ...now, well we live in more secular times, don't we?

by: johnwoolman

03-30-2009 @ 8:44pm

I laud your triumphing Sister Dorothy, but I fear me you forget "how great a cloud of witnesses" (as the apostle says) with which we are surrounded.
Your review infers that martyrdom is too easily confined to history; that until Sr. Dorothy, martyrdom, standing firmly for the Gospel faith, was out of the mode! As you do point out, martyrdom is "a shockingly contemporary virtue."
I humbly offer a few others to bolster your claim of just how contemporary is martyrdom - these many men and women, were, in recent years (most within living memory), offered on the altar of sacrifice: Orthodox (and other) priests, monks, nuns and laity who laid down their lives under the Leninist-Stalinist regimes, those who died silent deaths, unheralded by the Western world at all during Mao's oppressive rule, Franz Jaggerstatter, Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the many martyrs of the Nazi death camps, esp. the non-Jews: monks, nuns, laity, those true Christians who shielded Jews, and who, in the face of opposition even from the bishops and pope, upheld the deep and ancient precepts of the Faith, who protested Nazi oppression and cruelty, those members of the White Rose who went to the guillotine under the Nazis, the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador, Oscar Romero, the many Buddhist monks, nuns and laity who have been offered up during the cruel rule of the Khmer Rouge, and continue to be offered up under the present regime in Burma, the small, unremarked number of faithful who have been martyred in the Holy Land of late: those are just a handful of martyrs who have lain down their lives within the recent living memory. Nor, by any means, do I catalog all the martyrs. There are many others of non-Catholic persuasion, of whom we have not yet heard, whose diadems shine now by the glassy sea.
Let all these great martyrs pray for us.
Sister Dorothy's example is not to be unsung, but she is one in a long line of martyrs. We may find them almost anywhere, usually, they are unsung and only a handful will know of their gift. Still, if we look, we will find them, even in the daily news!
Sadly, it is simply that such gifts are not so highly prized these days as once they were. They were held as true Brides of Christ...now, well we live in more secular times, don't we?

by: Palosaari

03-31-2009 @ 3:13pm

Thank you for this post. I find it sad that we don't remember, in my opinion, the greatest of the American martyrs, the Rev. MLK. By this I mean, we don't remember him as a martyr. He was killed for his faith. He was very directly applying the teachings of Christ, and acting based on his understanding of those teachings- those were his primary and over-arching motivations. And yet we remember him only as a civil rights leader, and not the martyr for the faith that he was. It is good to remember one, but better to remember the other.

Martyrs are traditionally remembered on their birth days- and in the Church, birth days are the day you are born into eternity, the day you were martyred. Let us remember the Rev. Martin Luther King not just on January 15th, but also this April 4th.

by: Palosaari

03-31-2009 @ 3:13pm

Thank you for this post. I find it sad that we don't remember, in my opinion, the greatest of the American martyrs, the Rev. MLK. By this I mean, we don't remember him as a martyr. He was killed for his faith. He was very directly applying the teachings of Christ, and acting based on his understanding of those teachings- those were his primary and over-arching motivations. And yet we remember him only as a civil rights leader, and not the martyr for the faith that he was. It is good to remember one, but better to remember the other.

Martyrs are traditionally remembered on their birth days- and in the Church, birth days are the day you are born into eternity, the day you were martyred. Let us remember the Rev. Martin Luther King not just on January 15th, but also this April 4th.

by: electro sex

06-26-2009 @ 11:15am

Amen to that Palosaari.

by: electro sex

06-26-2009 @ 11:15am

Amen to that Palosaari.

by: Free eBooks

09-26-2009 @ 9:01am

She gave herself to save planet Earth and the people she loved." I'm looking forward to the time when "the desert will blossom as the rose and the lion will lay down with the lamb," the time when the Prince of Peace reigns over this earth, "the time when the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea."

by: Free eBooks

09-26-2009 @ 9:01am

She gave herself to save planet Earth and the people she loved." I'm looking forward to the time when "the desert will blossom as the rose and the lion will lay down with the lamb," the time when the Prince of Peace reigns over this earth, "the time when the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea."

by: jeanneerling

02-04-2010 @ 2:45pm

My Aunt (Dorothy STang) would agree with you wholeheartedly. She didn't want to be a martyr or Saint and there are many who have gone unnoticed. She will probably not be declared a saint, think that costs some money...not sure why. Anyhow, we need to look around us as you said and recognize the martyrs and saints around us who stand up for God, Jesus and otheres.

by: jeanneerling

02-04-2010 @ 2:45pm

My Aunt (Dorothy STang) would agree with you wholeheartedly. She didn't want to be a martyr or Saint and there are many who have gone unnoticed. She will probably not be declared a saint, think that costs some money...not sure why. Anyhow, we need to look around us as you said and recognize the martyrs and saints around us who stand up for God, Jesus and otheres.

by: jeanneerling

02-04-2010 @ 4:45pm

My Aunt (Dorothy STang) would agree with you wholeheartedly. She didn't want to be a martyr or Saint and there are many who have gone unnoticed. She will probably not be declared a saint, think that costs some money...not sure why. Anyhow, we need to look around us as you said and recognize the martyrs and saints around us who stand up for God, Jesus and otheres.

by: jeanneerling

02-04-2010 @ 4:45pm

My Aunt (Dorothy STang) would agree with you wholeheartedly. She didn't want to be a martyr or Saint and there are many who have gone unnoticed. She will probably not be declared a saint, think that costs some money...not sure why. Anyhow, we need to look around us as you said and recognize the martyrs and saints around us who stand up for God, Jesus and otheres.