St Josephine Bakhita

Tomorrow is the feast day of St Josephine Bakhita, a saint from the Sudanese region of Darfur who was kidnapped by slave traders and sold at the age of nine, and after experiencing very painful events, recovered her freedom and eventually became a Daughter of Charity in Italy.

This feast is also a world day dedicated to raise awareness regarding human trafficking. It aims to make the world more aware of this complex and painful reality not only in times past but also in this present day.

Bakhita was born in Sudan in 1869. ‘Bakhita’, which means ‘fortunate’, was not the name her parents gave her at birth but the name given to her by her kidnappers. The fright and terrible experience she went through made her forget the name her parents gave her.

Sold in the slave markets of El Obeid and Khartoum, she experienced physical and moral humiliations and sufferings of slavery for many years. After this ordeal, Bakhita was bought by an Italian consul in the country, Callisto Legnani.

For the first time since the day she was kidnapped, no one whipped her when giving her orders; instead, she was treated with love and cordiality. In the consul’s residence, Bakhita experienced peace, warmth and moments of joy, even though they were veiled with nostalgia for her own family whom, perhaps, she had lost forever.

The political situation in Sudan forced the consul to leave for Italy. Bakhita asked and obtained permission to go with him, together with a friend of his, Augusto Michieli.

On their arrival in Genoa, Legnani, at the request of Michieli’s wife, agreed to let Bakhita live with them. Her new ‘family’ settled in Zianigo, near Mirano Veneto.

When the Michielis’ daughter Mimmina was born, Bakhita became her babysitter and friend, and they were entrusted to the Canossian Sisters of the Institute of Catechumens in Venice.

The aim is to raise awareness on the plight of the millions of people affected by human trafficking and to support the work to eradicate this modern-day slavery

It was here that Bakhita came to know about God, whom “she had experienced in her heart without knowing who He was” since she was a child. After several months in the catechumenate, Bakhita received the sacraments of Christian initiation and was given a new name, Josephine. It was January 9, 1890. She did not know how to express her joy that day.

Eventually, Bakhita experienced the call to be a religious and to give herself to the Lord in the Institute of St Magdalene of Canossa. On December 8, 1896, Bakhita was consecrated forever to God, whom she was able to call by the name ‘the Master’.

For the next 50 years she lived as a humble Daughter of Charity in the Schio community, and was involved in various services as a true witness to the love of God. Although she had experienced the anguish of kidnapping and slavery, she blossomed in response to God’s grace. Everyone at the Daughters of Charity still calls her ‘Mother Moretta’ (our Black Mother).

Bakhita was beatified on May 17, 1992, and canonised on October 1, 2000. On the feast day of St Bakhita, the universal Church celebrates the International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking.

Pope Francis has called human trafficking “an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ” and “a crime against humanity”. The aim of this day of prayer is to raise awareness on this global phenomenon and the plight of the millions of people who are affected by human trafficking and to support the work of the Church to eradicate this modern-day form of slavery.

I would like to conclude with these words of Pope Francis:

“Often, when considering the reality of human trafficking, illegal trafficking of migrants and other acknowledged or unacknowledged forms of slavery, one has the impression that they occur within a context of general indifference.

“Sadly, this is largely true. Yet I would like to mention the enormous and often silent efforts that have been made for many years by religious congregations, especially women’s congregations, to provide support to victims.”

mal-prov@jesuit.org.mt

Fr Patrick Magro is provincial of the Jesuit Order in Malta.