Benigna, Killed during An Attempted Rape, Is Beatified in Ceará

13-year-old is remembered every year in pilgrimage

Campinas

Benigna Cardoso da Silva was killed at age of 13, on October 24, 1941, in Santana do Cariri, 532 km from Fortaleza (CE), after resisting an attempted rape. Since then, she has become a martyr and has been venerated by Catholics in the region.

This Monday (24), she was beatified by the Vatican. A crowd attended the mass in the city of Crato. Pope Francis was represented by Cardinal Leonardo Steiner, Archbishop of Manaus.

CRATO, CE, Benigna Cardoso da Silva (fOTO: Divulgação/Diocese de Crato ) - Divulgação/Diocese de Crato

"The young girl loved to read and tell sacred stories, with them she learned to keep the word of God, a word that awakens us to the spirit of tonight's celebration," he said.

Beatification is a solemn act of the pope that allows public veneration in specific places.

According to Danilo Sobreira, Pastoral Coordinator of the Parish Senhora Sant'Ana de Santana do Cariri, Benigna, in life, was seen as a holy person.

She was very dedicated to her studies, charitable, a lover of nature and animals, extremely religious," she declared.

Translated by Cassy Dias

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