A NEW OWL AND ANGEL of the AMAZON

We have been seeing many more owls on our small island, than in past years-  the great horned and the barred- but it isn't often in my bird search that I find a bird that is connected to a nun.

SISTER DOROTHY MAE STANG (June 7, 1931 – February 12, 2005)  was an American-born, Brazilian member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who was murdered in Anapu, a city in the state of Pará, in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. 

Sister had been outspoken in her efforts on behalf of the poor and the environment and had previously received death threats from loggers and landowners. Her cause for canonization as a martyr and model of sanctity is underway within the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Because of her fight to save the environment,  she has had a newly discovered, rare owl  named after her -  the Xingu screech owl  (Megascops stangiae). The common name Xingu Screech Owl refers to the area where the new species is found, between the Tapajos and Xingu rivers, where Sister was a very active community leader until her killing.

This  genus,  commonly known as screech owls for their piercing calls, inhabit a wide variety of habitats.There are 21 species of  Megascops  in the Americas. This South American owl is one of two newly described species this year, the other from Northeastern Brazil.These cute little owls, 5-6 inches long,  come in a variety of hues from brown to gray and have  tufts of feathers on their heads.

While this species is new to science, it is  already in danger of disappearing forever, being threatened by deforestation. The Xingu screech owl is endemic to the most severely burned area of the Amazon by the unprecedented 2019 fires.

Sr. Dorothy was born in Ohio and entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur community in 1948 at the age of 17.  She went to Brazil in 1966 to live with the poor. There, she witnessed first-hand ranchers and loggers exploiting farmers and indigenous people, stealing land, cutting down forests, and murdering those who spoke up. Sr. Dorothy said that “only a profound change in our way of living–our values and attitudes–can bring new life to our world.”

"We are only here on the land a few decades. Use every day to bring joy and not greed to our tired land so full of anguish.”

On February 12, 2005, on a dirt road in a rural area in Para, Sister  was blocked by two men who worked in a livestock company. They asked if she had any weapons, and she claimed that the only weapon would be her Bible.  She then read a passage from the Beatitudes.  "Blessed are the poor in spirit ..." She continued a couple of steps but was suddenly stopped when one of the men called her "sister".  The other man fired a round at her abdomen and as she lay on the ground another round was fired into her head.  The men were later tried and found guilty of her murder.  The  whole  affair was a tragic mess, as the men were later released due to corruption in the courts.

In 2008, the American filmmaker, Daniel Junge,  released a documentary titled “They Killed Sister Dorothy”. The film is narrated by Martin Sheen. The film received the Audience Award and the Competition Award at the 2008 South by Southwest Festival, where it had its worldwide première. It is hard to watch, but one gets the idea of what is happening, even to this day, in the Amazon, due to greed.

Sister is often pictured wearing a T-shirt with the slogan, "A Morte da floresta é o fim da nossa vida" which is Portuguese for "The Death of the Forest is the End of Our Lives".

"I don't want to flee, nor do I want to abandon the battle of these farmers who live without any protection in the forest. They have the sacrosanct right to aspire to a better life on land where they can live and work with dignity while respecting the environment." 

                                                    “The death of the forest is the end of our life” Icon by Rev. Bill McNichols, SJ.

Sr. Judith Clemens, a friend of  Sister Dorothy said: "I think it is so beautiful that an owl, which is a nocturnal animal and a symbol of great wisdom, be the animal to honor her. Dorothy had that kind of wisdom."