St. Josephine Bahkita
- St. Josephine Bahkita was born in 1869 in Sudan into a respected family, including three brothers and three sisters. She wrote that her early years were happy, and she did not know suffering.
- Historians believe that sometime in February of 1877, Josephine was kidnapped by Arab slave traders. Ironically, her kidnappers named her “Bahkita”, which means “fortunate” in Arabic.
- She was treated horribly by her slave traders, and forced to walk over 600 miles barefoot. She was sold twice in just that journey. Her life of suffering had begun.
- Each time she was traded, her treatment worsened. She wrote the following of one of her owners: "During all the years I stayed in that house, I do not recall a day that passed without some wound or other. When a wound from the whip began to heal, other blows would pour down on me."
- One of her five owners branded her and made 114 cuts on her body, then rubbed salt in each open wound.
- In 1883, she was sold to an Italian government leader, her first owner to treat her with kindness and respect.
- Her owner was traveling back to Italy and Bahkita begged him to take her with them. He agreed, and she endured the long, dangerous trip back to his homeland. Bahkita was given to a family friend as a gift and she served them as a nanny.
- When her new family traveled out of country, they placed her in the custody of the Canossian Sisters in Venice. She was introduced for the first time to the Catholic faith while living in the convent.
- When the family returned to Italy, Bahkita refused to leave the convent. One of the nuns in the convent looked into the laws in Sudan and found slavery was outlawed before Bahkita was even born. After a court hearing, Bahkita was declared free.
- Bahkita chose to stay in the convent and eventually became a sister. For the next 42 years, she was a cook and the doorkeeper at the convent, known for her gentle voice, her smile, and her kindness.
- She traveled and shared her story with nuns preparing to serve in Africa. When talking about her kidnappers, she would express her thanks for them. She felt that had they not kidnapped her, she never would have come to know Jesus.
- She died on February 8, 1947. Her cause was soon opened but news of this was censored in Sudan. St. Pope John Paul II traveled to Sudan to honor her publicly.
- She was canonized by St. Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000. Her feast day is February 8. She is the patron saint of Sudan and victims of slavery.