Carla Santos
A mother. A journalist. A life that mattered.
Carla Santos was a journalist and mother living in Monte Abraão, Sintra, Portugal. She was 41 when she was found dead on March 3, 2014, murdered by her former partner, Moisés Fonseca. In March 2015, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for aggravated homicide.
She sought protection
Renascença reported in 2019 that Carla made a domestic violence complaint in 2010, that the investigation was closed the following year for insufficient evidence, and that she faced a shared-custody decision despite a criminal court having restricted the aggressor’s parental responsibilities.
RTP’s Sexta às Nove reported in March 2014 that, after examining the case file, it found earlier warnings about danger and episodes of abduction involving Carla and her son had not led to adequate protection. The report described the suspension of the criminal proceedings and continued shared custody before her murder.
Why we remember her
Church of Sacred Resistance honors Carla’s life and the lives of women who seek safety and are not protected. We remember her as a person, beyond the violence that ended her life. Her story calls us to take women’s warnings seriously, protect children alongside their mothers, and build community that responds with practical care.
Carla is awaiting communal celebration and ritual among the Saints of Resistance. Her suffering is not what makes her sacred. Her life was sacred already.