For more than twenty-five years, a speaker was invariably requested for most of the spiritualist events in São Paulo.

His words had the merit of attracting a large audience because, in addition to being an authoritative lecturer, he had a very peculiar style of delivering his speeches, beginning them with a brief history, an apology or a simple anecdote, which prepared the spirits of those present, predisposing them to assimilate the teachings contained in the subject that was to be addressed.

That is why he used to say: "In our long pilgrimage through the Spiritist tribunes, radio stations and the Spiritist press, speaking on the Gospel of Jesus, we have always done our best not to bore our listeners or readers with long and ponderous dissertations on the Spiritist Doctrine, believing it preferable to hold their attention by another procedure, which is to seek facts or examples in practical life which elucidate the subjects to be dealt with, although we sometimes sin against the severity of some confreres who are little fond of literature of this kind. To attract an attentive audience, there is nothing better than to intersperse the lecture with the narration of interesting and sometimes conscious facts from the life of society, which elucidate the theme to be treated.

There is nothing wrong with that for the propaganda and understanding of the Spiritist Doctrine. Spiritualists should be cheerful and never averse to laughter, wholesome merriment and harmless amusements. They should never imitate those friars of the Order of Silence who, forbidden to speak, could only say when they met: "Brother! Remember death!"

The name of this emeritus spiritualist was Benedito Godoy Paiva. He was a man of impeccable character, frank and loyal, endowed with an enviable industriousness. Before 1941, he was a member of the board of the Federative Spiritist Union of São Paulo, where he carried out an intense work of spreading the Spiritist Doctrine through the press and radio.

In the same year, he became a member of the board of the Spiritist Federation of the State of São Paulo, where he had great prominence and carried out numerous activities. Besides being an official lecturer, he was the director of the Cultural and Social Department and member of the Deliberative Council, helping Pedro de Camargo, Vinícius, to set up the Evangelical Gatherings, substituting him in his absence every Sunday morning. He was instrumental in founding the School of Evangelical Apprentices and other courses of this institution, advising in the preparation of pamphlets and books for these courses.

In 1947, he participated prominently in the foundation of the Union of Spiritist Societies of the State of São Paulo, forming the Final Drafting Commission of the deliberations of the First Spiritist Congress of the State of São Paulo and being a member of the first Deliberative Council of that organisation.

The following biographical information was obtained from Prof. Zilda de Paiva Barbosa, one of the daughters of this great pioneer.

Benedito Godoy Paiva was widowed twice, leaving seven children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. At the age of 16, after finishing high school at the Externato Molina, he studied and completed courses in geometry, mathematics and English, and in 1901 he joined the Sorocabana Railway as an employee. In the meantime, he also studied accounting at the Brazilian Academy of Commerce, which he attended in the afternoons, later working overtime as an accountant to make ends meet.

He retired after 46 years of service in the Railways, leaving behind him a long record of invaluable service with utmost dedication and efficiency. He had a brilliant career, from railway clerk to administrative adviser, rising to become Head of the Traffic Office and General Head of the Transport Department Office, where he was praised for his record.

He took part in administrative investigations and other commissions entrusted to him, as he had a thorough knowledge of all the regulations and orders issued by previous administrations. He was a journalist, contributing to the religious and secular press, and was editor of one of the columns of the ‘Diário de São Paulo’.

As a poet and charadista, he collaborated in ‘Nossa Estrada’, a magazine whose name was suggested by him and accepted by vote by the entire Sorocabana staff. He was a musician. He played about six instruments, but his favourite was the flute. He composed several songs and was a serenader. He used to serenade under the windows of houses, in the time of old São Paulo.

He attended the Evangelical Church, where he was organist and choir director. In the act of foundation of the 3rd Independent Presbyterian Church of São Paulo, his name appears in the first place as founder. He had a deep knowledge of the Scriptures and from the Gospels he extracted sublime teachings that guided him throughout his life, so useful to his family and to humanity.

Converted to Spiritism, he initially joined the Federative Union and later the Spiritist Federation of the State of São Paulo, leaving the Presbyterian Church from which he had requested to leave, writing a letter to his great friend, Rev. Dr. Seth Ferraz, pastor of the 3rd Church, explaining the reasons that led him to leave that community, since the teachings of the Church condemned Spiritism, a doctrine based on reincarnation and the evolution of spirits.

It was a new stage in his life. He devoted himself entirely to the Spiritist Doctrine. He gave countless lectures, whose auditoriums were filled when he took the podium. From these lectures, he published the book ‘Quando o Evangelho diz Não’ (‘When the Gospel says No!’). He published several pamphlets, among them ‘Who will enter heaven?’ and ‘The truth will set you free’.

He wrote several poems: ‘Reincarnation’, ‘The Husband's Longing’, ‘The Three Crosses’, ‘The Sinful Woman’, ‘The Last Judgement’, ‘The Good Samaritan’, ‘Salvation by Faith’, ‘The Dream of the Princess’ and, with Cid Franco, he wrote the poem ‘Avatar’. He revised ‘The Great Synthesis’, a mediumistic book by Pietro Ubaldi and, in collaboration with Emílio Manso Vieira, wrote the ‘Manual for the Director of Spiritist Sessions’.

On the day of his disincarnation, three representatives of religious organisations were present at his bedside: an evangelical pastor, a bishop of the Brazilian Catholic Church and a member of the Spiritist Federation of the State of São Paulo. They all said goodbye to him with the same affection.