These are the kinds of men that made me want to be a priest.  Of course, as the article points out, foreign-born priests aren’t any more courageous that those from Brazil (or other parts of Latin America).  The trick is that they can’t be cowed by threats of violence to their families.  And that’s a big deal.  If someone threated my family if I spoke out, it’d be a lot harder for me to take action. Keep fighting the good fight Fathers.

Latin America has historically been among the most dangerous regions for Catholic missionaries. Five Catholic clergy were murdered in the continent in 2008 out of 20 worldwide, according to Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

The risks the clergy face in Brazil became clear in February 2005 when 73-year-old U.S. Catholic nun Dorothy Stang was gunned down holding her Bible in the remote Para town of Anapu, where she had been defending peasants’ rights against powerful landowners.

Church and human rights officials say there is no shortage of Brazilian priests to take the place of the aging foreign-born bishops. But with lower profiles and family members living in the country, they are often more vulnerable to the threats.