This week in Christian history: Sudanese saint baptized; English archbishop beheaded

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, January 08, 2023

Sudanese saint baptized - Jan. 9, 1890

Josephine Margaret Bakhita (1869-1947), a native of Sudan who was canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church in 2000. | Public Domain

This week marks the anniversary of when former Sudanese slave Josephine Margaret Bakhita, who was canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church in 2000, was baptized.

A native of Darfur, Bakhita had endured years of slavery before she found herself living with the Canossian Sisters in Venice, Italy, and decided as an adult to convert to Christianity.

Receiving her first communion and being confirmed afterward, she joined the order a few years later and served in various roles until her death in 1947.

“For the next 42 years of her life, she worked as a cook and a doorkeeper at the convent. She also traveled and visited other convents telling her story to other sisters and preparing them for work in Africa,” noted Catholic Online.

“During World War II, the people of the village of Schio regarded her as their protector. And although bombs fell on their village, not one citizen died.”

Bakhita is considered the patron saint of Sudan.