Lindalva Justo de Oliveira

Lindalva Justo de Oliveira was born on 20 October 1953 in Brazil as the sixth of thirteen children to the farmer João Justo da Fé - a widower with three children - and Maria Lúcia da Fé (b. 1923); two brothers were Antonio and Djamla.^[7] As of 2014 her mother was still alive at age 91.^[5] Antonio was an alcoholic and went sober not long after she penned a letter to him.^[8]

Oliveira received her baptism on 7 January 1954 in the parish of Saint John the Baptist in the Chapel of Olho D'Água from Monsignor Júlio Alves Bezerra.^[5] Around 1961 her parents took their children elsewhere so as to provide for their educational needs.

She received her First Communion on 15 December 1965 and as of 1971 began to help raise her three nephews.^[4] Her parents tried to convince her to wed at this time but she deflected the conversation and instead said that she had three sons: her brother's three children that she helped care for. Oliveira lived with her brother Djamla in Natal for a time and received an administrative assistant's diploma in 1979. From 1978 until a decade later she worked in retail sales and also as a cashier at a petrol station.^[7] This was to provide for her ailing father and her mother and after the death of her father was for her mother's financial situation; leftover wages were for her personal use and she lived in Natal during this time.^[3]

As her father was on his deathbed in 1982 she aided him in his last months. He later summoned his children to him while asking a priest for the Anointing of the sick; he beseeched his children to persevere in the faith and devote themselves as best as possible to God.^[4] He died hours later in 1982 due to abdominal cancer.^[7] Not long after in 1982 she began a technical course in nursing. In 1986 she attended a vocational movement of the Vincentian Sisters and requested joining them at the end of 1987; the Archbishop of Natal Nivaldo Monte granted her the sacrament of Confirmation on 28 November 1987.^[5]

On 28 December 1987 she received a letter from the mother provincial accepting her entrance into the congregation. Her time as a postulant commenced on 11 February 1988 in Recife, where she commenced her novitiate on 16 July 1989.

She began to work at the shelter titled Don Pedro II Home in Bahia on 29 January 1991 to aid older people and the poor; she went on a retreat that same month while the forum was dedicated to the charism of Saint Vincent de Paul.^[3][7] Oliveira even took a driving test so she could take some of the people from the shelter for rides.^[8]

In 1993 a man named Augusto da Silva Peixoto (b. 1947) was admitted into the shelter despite the fact that he was not meant to be there at all; he became obsessed with Oliveira and began to harass her despite her best efforts to keep her distance from him while treating him like she did the others.^[7] Those around her convinced her to report it and on 30 March 1993 the official of the shelter – Margarita Maria Siva de Azevedo – rebuked him; Augusto responded on 5 April in purchasing a machete.

On 9 April 1993 de Oliveira participated in the Way of the Cross and returned to the shelter to serve breakfast at the Dom Pedro II Home.^[6] Augusto approached her as she served coffee and tapped her on the shoulder before thrusting a knife into her above the collar-bone as she turned around.^[5] She sank to the ground and cried out several times: "God protect me" while her attacker shouted: "I should have done this sooner!" A man attempted to intervene but Augusto warned those who approached would be killed. Augusto wiped the knife of blood on his clothes and threw it onto the floor before exclaiming to the horrified witnesses: "She did not want me!". He then said to the doctor that was summoned: "You can call the police, I will not run away; I did what had to be done".^[7] Augusto's reason for killing her was due to Oliveira refusing to give up the religious life to be with him as a lover.^[3] The killer sat on a bench outside the shelter and awaited the police; he was admitted to a mental hospital following his conviction. Coroners identified a total of 44 perforations in Oliveira.

Her funeral was celebrated on 10 April 1993 and the Dominican Cardinal Lucas Moreira Neves presided over the funeral.^[7] As of 6 April 2014 her remains are in the Capela das Relíquias da Beata Lindalva.^[8]

In 1993 a resident began subjecting Lindalva to escalating unwanted attention and sexual harassment. She set boundaries, avoided being alone with him, and sought intervention from those responsible for the institution. He killed her at work on Good Friday, 9 April 1993. The crime is reported without reproducing sensational details. His obsession was not love, her courtesy was not consent, and neither religious vows nor continued service made her responsible for his choices. This Christian witness points toward Christ and the universal call to holiness. Remembering it truthfully means neither making suffering desirable nor treating every choice, opinion, or later retelling as if the Catholic Church had canonized it.

The Church judged that Lindalva was killed in hatred of the Christian chastity and consecration she faithfully defended and therefore recognized her as a martyr. That judgment honors fidelity to Christ without teaching that victims must remain in unsafe environments, refuse protective measures, or imitate a particular risk. Her prior years of family care, paid employment, friendship, prayer, and humble service prevent the final violence from swallowing the whole meaning of her life. A sound account distinguishes documented events, contemporary testimony, and the Church's later judgment. That discipline protects both historical truth and authentic devotion, especially where illness, violence, politics, colonial power, or disputed memories are involved.