Josephine Bakhita
Saint Josephine Bakhita | |
|---|---|
| File:J Bakhita.jpg Josephine Bakhita, Institute of the Daughters of the Canossian charity | |
| Born | c. 1869 Olgossa, Darfur, Sudan |
| Died | 8 February 1947 ijn Italy Schio, Veneto, Italy |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 17 May 1992 by Pope John Paul II |
| Canonized | 1 October 2000, Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome, by Pope John Paul II |
| Feast | 8 February |
| Patronage | Sudan |
Josephine Bakhita (c. 1869 – February 8, 1947) was a Sudanese-born former slave who became a Roman Catholic Canossian nun in Italy, living and working there for 45 years. In 2000, she was declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.
Early life
Early details about Bakhita are not fully known. She was born to a locally important family, probably in Olgossa, a village in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. She was Dinka or possibly Daju.[1][2] Her father was the brother of a tribal chief. Some time between the age of seven to twelve she was kidnapped by Arab slave traders and over the course of the next eight years was sold and resold five times in the markets of El Obeid and Khartoum. The trauma of her abduction caused her to forget her own name; she took one given to her by the slavers, bakhita, Arabic for lucky.[3][4] She was also forcibly converted to Islam.[1]
Life as a slave
Bakhita suffered much brutality during her captivity. She was employed as a domestic in a wealthy family, but after offending one of her owner's sons, possibly for breaking a vase, the son beat her so severely that she spent a month unable to move from a straw bed. She later recalled that her most terrifying memory was of her fourth owner, an Ottoman Army officer, having her (in common with all his other slaves) marked as "his" by a process resembling both scarification and tattooing.[5][4] Her memoirs, dictated to another nun and written in Italian many years later, recall that a dish of white flour, a dish of salt and a blade were brought by a woman, who drew patterns on her skin and then cut deeply along the lines before filling the wounds with salt and flour to ensure permanent scarring. More than 114 marks were cut into her breasts, belly, and arms.[6]ddddddddd
Conversion and freedom
Her fifth and final owner was an Italian diplomat, Callisto Legnani. Upon learning that the family was being forced out of Sudan, Bakhita begged to go with them. Legani and a friend, Augusto Michieli, brought her to a town near Genoa, Italy, where she became nanny to the Michieli's daughter, Mimmina. In 1888 or 1889 Bakhita and Mimmina were left in the custody of the Canossian Sisters in Venice while the Michielis moved to the Red Sea on business. In 1890 she was baptised with the name "Josephine Margarita Afortunada", receiving communion for the first time by the cardinal patriarch of Venice.[5][6]
When the Michielis returned to collect her and their daughter, Bakhita did not want to leave. Mrs. Michieli tried to force the issue, but the superior of the school that Bakhita and Mimmina had attended in Venice complained to the authorities. An Italian court ruled that since Sudan had outlawed slavery before Bakhita's birth, and because in any case Italian law did not recognize slavery, Bakhita had never in fact been a slave. Bakhita had now reached the age of maturity, and she found herself in control of her own destiny for the first time in her life and chose to remain with the Canossians.[6][7]
Nun
In 1896 she joined the sisters permanently in Venice, and, in 1902, she was assigned to a house in Schio in the northern Italian province of Vicenza, where she spent the rest of her life. Her only extended time away from Schio was between 1935 and 1938, a period she spent in helping prepare young sisters for work in Africa.[8]
During her 45 years in Schio, Josephine was usually employed as portress (door keeper) of her house, and so was in frequent contact with the local community. Her gentleness, calming voice, and ever-present smile became well known and Vicenzans still refer to her as Sor Moretta ("little brown sister") or Madre Moretta ("black mother"). Her special charisma and reputation for sanctity were noticed by her order, and she was instructed to publish her memoirs and to give talks about her experiences; these made her famous throughout Italy.[9][2] Her last years were marked by pain and sickness, as she was confined to a wheelchair, but she retained her cheerfulness, and if asked how she was, would always smile and answer "as the Master desires".[8]
In the extremity of her last days her mind was driven back to the years of her slavery and in her delirium she would cry out "Please, loosen the chains ... they are so heavy". Bakhita died on February 8, 1947. For three days her body lay on display while thousands of people arrived to pay their respects.[8]
Legacy and Canonization
The calls for her canonization began immediately, and the process commenced in 1959, only twelve years after her death. On December 1, 1978, Pope John Paul II declared Josephine Venerabilis, the first step towards canonization. On May 17, 1992, she was declared Blessed and given February 8 as her feast day. On October 1, 2000, she was canonized and became Saint Josephine Bakhita. She is venerated as a modern African saint, and as a saint with a special relevance to slavery and oppression. She has been adopted as the patron saint of Sudan.[6]
Bakhita's legacy is through the transformation of suffering. Her story represents spiritual slavery to those who find meaning in her life.[6] On a larger scale, however, the canonization of Bakhita represents a conflict between Christianity and Islam. News of her declaration as a saint was banned in Khartoum.[1]
Citations
- ^ a b c Hutchinson, p. 7.
- ^ a b Davis, Cyprian (1986). "Black Catholic Theology: A Historical Perspective", Theological Studies 61 (2000), pp. 656–671.
- ^ Burns and Butler, p. 52.
- ^ a b O'Malley, p. 32.
- ^ a b Burns and Butler, p. 53.
- ^ a b c d e "Josephine Bakhita", African Online News. Retrieved on January 5, 2010.
- ^ O'Malley, pp. 33–34.
- ^ a b c Burns and Butler, p. 54.
- ^ O'Malley, p. 34.
Bibliography
- Burns, Paul; Butler, Alban (2005). Butler's Lives of the Saints: Supplement of New Saints and Blesseds, Volume 1, Liturgical Press. ISBN 0814618375
- Hutchinson, Robert (1999). Their Kingdom Come: Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei, St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312193440
- O'Malley, Vincent (2001). Saints of Africa, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing. ISBN 087973373X
External links
- Biography from the Vatican website: English French Italian Portuguese
- A short biography from Patron Saints Index
- A brief biography in Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Spe Salvi, paragraph 3
- Canossian Daughters of Charity
- Canossian School
- Film on Bakhita directed by Giacomo Campiotti, scored by Stefano Lentini
- Bakhita Soundtrack by Stefano Lentini