Josephine Bakhita

In 1888, when the Michieli couple had to travel to Africa to manage a hotel in Suakin, Bakhita and Mimmina were temporarily entrusted to the Institute of Catechumens in Venice, run by the Daughters of Charity (Canossian Sisters). It was in this convent that Bakhita discovered the Christian faith and the Gospel. She felt a profound inner liberation while contemplating the crucifix, understanding that she was loved by a God who had suffered for her.

At the end of 1889, when Mrs. Michieli returned to Italy to retrieve her daughter and her servant to depart for Sudan, Bakhita firmly expressed her desire to remain with the sisters. Faced with her mistress's refusal, the case was brought before the Italian courts. On November 29, 1889, the King's prosecutor declared that since slavery did not exist in Italy, Bakhita was legally free to choose her own destiny.

Now free, she received the sacraments of Christian initiation (baptism, confirmation, and first communion) on January 9, 1890, from the hands of the Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Domenico Agostini, and took the name Giuseppina Margherita Fortunata (Josephine). Aspiring to consecrate her life to God, she entered the Canossian novitiate on December 7, 1893. She made her first religious vows on December 8, 1896, in Verona.

In 1902, Sister Josephine Bakhita was transferred to the convent of Schio, in the province of Vicenza, where she would spend the rest of her life. Within the community, she humbly dedicated herself to simple tasks: cook, laundress, embroiderer, and doorkeeper. During the First World War, she also helped as a nurse when the convent was transformed into a military hospital. On December 8, 1927, she made her perpetual vows.

Sister Josephine Bakhita distinguished herself by her unalterable gentleness, her profound humility, and her constant smile. Affectionately nicknamed "Madre Moretta" (the little black Mother) by the inhabitants of Schio, she won the hearts of the entire local population, especially the children she welcomed at the convent gate. She spent long hours in prayer before the tabernacle, expressing infinite gratitude toward God, whom she tenderly called "el me Paron" (My Master / My Patron) in the Venetian dialect.

In 1931, at the request of her superiors, her biography titled Storia Meravigliosa (Wonderful Story) was published, making her extraordinary journey known throughout Italy. Despite the fame, she remained of exemplary simplicity.

Her final years were marked by illness and physical suffering. Afflicted by a painful agony, she relived in her delirium the dark hours of her slavery, pleading: "Loosen my chains, they hurt me!" She passed away peacefully on February 8, 1947, in Schio, her last words being addressed to the Virgin Mary: "Madonna! Madonna!" An immense crowd immediately rushed to the convent to pay their final respects to "Madre Moretta" and to ask for her heavenly protection.

The reputation of holiness of Sister Josephine Bakhita spread rapidly after her death. The informative process for her canonization opened twelve years later, in 1959. On December 1, 1978, Pope John Paul II signed the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, thus proclaiming her Venerable.

She was beatified on May 17, 1992, by Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square in Rome. During his apostolic journey to Khartoum in February 1993, the Sovereign Pontiff solemnly presented her as a model of reconciliation and hope for all the Sudanese people.

On October 1, 2000, Pope John Paul II proclaimed her a saint during a solemn ceremony in Saint Peter's Square. She thus became the first saint from Sudan and a major figure of the Church in Africa.

The spirituality of Saint Josephine Bakhita is based on heroic forgiveness and absolute trust in Divine Providence. Freed from hatred, she felt no resentment toward her former torturers, stating: "If I were to meet those slave-traders who kidnapped me and those who tortured me, I would kneel down to kiss their hands, for if that had not happened, I would not be a Christian and a religious today."

Her journey has become a universal symbol of the fight against modern slavery and human trafficking. In recognition of her life experience, Pope Francis placed the World Day of Prayer and Reflection against Human Trafficking, celebrated annually on February 8, the day of her liturgical feast, under her patronage.

In his encyclical Spe Salvi (2007), Pope Benedict XVI cited the example of Josephine Bakhita at length to illustrate the power of Christian hope, showing how the knowledge of the true "Master" (God) restored her lost dignity. She is also designated as one of the patron saints of the World Youth Day (WYD) in Seoul in 2027.