Amazon Synod: Dorothy Stang, for the betterment of this world

“This is an important time for Sr Dorothy Stang” says Sr Sheila Kinsey, Executive Co-Secretary of the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation commission of the International Union of Superior Generals. She says Sr Dorothy’s life has much to teach us. “The way she lived and the legacy she continues to have in areas” such as in reaching out to the poor or in dealing with issues relating to landlessness are all inspirational, she says.

Sr Sherila continues saying that the “two bookends” for Pope Francis are the Beatitudes and Matthew 25. Sr Dorothy “was a person who lived” both of these, she says. We are called to live a life of holiness, “promoting the kingdom of God” and this is a time in which we look up to these martyrs for inspiration, to those who have given their lives for the betterment of the people, she says.

“Dorothy is giving us that example”, continues Sr Sheila, “to reach across the divide, to be at one with one another, to listen to one another, the north and the south, those who are indigenous, those who are religious, those who are lay, those who are in the highest realms of the hierarchy.”

Sr Sheila believes that this Synod is “only the beginning” and that we need to be able to go forward together as church as we speak to the world, to make a difference, to have a new face. “A face that shows the Amazon”, she explains, “that shows indigenous people”.

“Our time is now”, concludes Sr Sheila, to help “make a difference for the betterment of this world” .