Benigna Cardoso da Silva was born in 1928 at Santana do Cariri, in Ceará, Brazil. She was orphaned as a baby and adopted, with her brothers and sisters, by a local family.
Benigna Cardoso da Silva was born in 1928 at Santana do Cariri, in Ceará, Brazil. She was orphaned as a baby and adopted, with her brothers and sisters, by a local family. She was quiet, helpful at home and devoted to Holy Communion.
When she was twelve, a youth named Raul Alves Ribeiro pursued her, and she refused him. He kept pressuring her, and her confessor gave her a Bible, which became her favourite book.
On October 24, 1941, as she went to fetch water, Raul attacked her again. She resisted, and he struck her repeatedly and left her to die. She was thirteen. Raul later served his sentence and said he had repented and been converted through her. She was beatified in Crato in 2022.
Benigna Cardoso da Silva was beatified in 2023 by Pope Francis.