Lindalva Justo de Oliveira

In 1986, Lindalva joined the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, beginning her postulancy in 1988 and her novitiate in 1989. In 1991, she was sent to the Dom Pedro II Shelter in Salvador de Bahia to care for the men's section. She served there with joy and humility. A resident, Augusto Peixoto, developed an aggressive obsession with her. On April 9, 1993, Good Friday, he murdered her with 44 stab wounds while she was serving breakfast. She died a martyr at the age of 39.

Sister Lindalva's reputation for holiness spread rapidly. In 2000, the Archbishop of Salvador de Bahia opened the diocesan process. On December 16, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI promulgated the decree recognizing her martyrdom 'in defensum castitatis' (in defense of her chastity), dispensing the cause from the requirement of a miracle for her beatification.

Sister Lindalva was beatified on December 2, 2007, at the Manoel Barradas stadium in Salvador de Bahia by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI, before 25,000 faithful and her mother. She is the first religious sister born in Brazil and the first female martyr of the country to be beatified. Her liturgical feast is set for January 7, the day of her baptism.

Lindalva's spirituality is based on the Vincentian charism of joyful service to the poor. Her martyrdom remains a model of dignity and fidelity. In 2022, a rehabilitation center for women, the 'Fazenda da Esperança Irmã Lindalva Justo de Oliveira', was inaugurated in her honor in Primavera. Her relics rest in Salvador de Bahia.