St. Josephine Bakhita

Josephine, born 1869 at a village in Olgossa in the Darfur region of southern Sudan. She was then kidnapped by slavers at the age of seven, sold into slavery and given the name Bakhita, which means fortunate. She was often beaten and abused, and after being 5 times, finally in 1883 to Callisto Legnani, Italian consul in Khartoum, Sudan. She is treated as an outcast by the peasants and the other servants due to her black skin and African background, but Bakhita is kind and generous to others. Bakhita gradually comes closer to God with the help of the kind village priest, and embraces the Catholic faith. Bakhita felt called to learn more about the Church, and was baptized with the name “Josephine Margaret.”

Upon Josephines' request to join the order of Canossian sisters, but her Italian master doesn't want to give her up as his servant, treating her almost as his property. This leads to a moving court case that raised an uproar which impacts Bakhita's freedom and ultimate decision to become a nun. The judge concluded that since slavery was illegal in Italy, she had actually been free since 1885. Josephine remained in Italy and decided to enter Canossians in 1893. She made her profession in 1896 and was sent to Northern Italy, where she dedicated her life to assisting her community and teaching others to love God. She was known for her smile, gentleness and holiness. She even went on record saying, “If I were to meet the slave-traders who kidnapped me and even those who tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands, for if that did not happen, I would not be a Christian and Religious today.”

Bakhita died on 8 February 1947 and twelve years later the first steps toward her beatification began in 1959. She was beatified in 1992 and canonized eight years later in October 2000 by Pope John Paul II. She is the first person to be canonized from Sudan and is the patron saint of the country.