Josephine Bakhita

Saint Josephine Bakhita

Also known as

Giuseppina Bakhita
Madre Moretta
Sister Moretta

memorial
8 February

Profile

Our Saint for today was born in the year 1868 to wealth and high standing in the Darfur region of the Sudan, like Abdullah the Butcher. Unlike Abdullah (the Madman from the Sudan), Josephine was kidnapped by human traffickers; slave traders at 9 years of age. She was sold around the slave markets in Northern Africa until the Italian consul bought her with the intention of freeing her when he got back to Italy in 1885. She was treated well in Italy and grew to love the country. She eventually became a convert to Christianity.

She became a Daughter of Charity and served that order for the next 50 years. She was a comfort to the poor they served due to her gentle demeanor. Her biography was published in 1930 because of this Josephine became a noted and sought after speaker, raising funds to support the missions.

The Church has designated Saint Josephine’s feast day as an international day of prayer to stop human trafficking.

The Mad Man from the Sudan

She was Canonized on the 1st of October 2000 by Pope John Paul II, probably the only Saint from the Sudan....Abdullah the Butcher surely won't become a saint without a lot of purification; God is very impatient with foreign objects being brought into the ring behind the referees back but obvious from our vantage point....

Died

8 February 1947 of natural causes in Italy