Sister Stang, 73, was murdered on Saturday on her way to a meeting with local peasants, reported the local police who said that they have arrested two suspects.
The attack took place less than one week after the nun met with the Brazilian department of human rights to report that four local peasants had received death threats.
The nun is a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. She served in Anapu, in the Brazilian state of Para, for 20 years.
The missionary’s murder is the eleventh to take place in the last twelve months in this area of Brazil, according to Vatican Radio.