This week on Fresh Ground Theology’s The Weekend Cup, Saint Josephine Bakhita faces a choice that will shape the rest of her life. After years of having her future decided by others, she refuses to leave the Canossian Sisters in Venice. This second episode follows her struggle for freedom, her baptism, and her decision to join the Canossian order.
In 1889, Maria Michieli returned from Africa expecting Bakhita to accompany the family again. By then, Bakhita wanted to remain in Italy and continue preparing to become a Christian. Her refusal carried a personal cost. She loved Mimmina, the young girl she had cared for, and staying meant accepting a painful separation. Even so, she held firmly to her decision.
With support from the sisters, the dispute reached Church leaders and Italian legal authorities. They recognized that Bakhita could not be held as a slave or forced to leave against her will. In November 1889, her freedom was formally affirmed. The ruling allowed her to remain in Venice and take the next step in the faith she had come to embrace.
On January 9, 1890, she received baptism, confirmation, and her first Holy Communion. She took the names Josephine Margaret Fortunata and developed a lasting attachment to the baptismal font where she understood herself to have become God’s daughter. Her story then moves into the quieter years of learning, prayer, and discernment that followed.
We also explore the Canossian Sisters’ mission and their founder, Magdalene of Canossa, whose work among the poor shaped the community Josephine hoped to join. After entering the novitiate in 1893, Josephine prepared to make vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Her religious profession in 1896 marked a new chapter of freely chosen service.
Through this part of Saint Josephine Bakhita’s biography, we encounter the people who defended her dignity and the growing faith that guided her choices. The episode ends as she begins the religious life that would bring comfort to countless others.
Listen to Episode 1 in Bakhita’s story: https://freshgroundtheology.com/2026/11/06/the-girl-whose-name-was-lost-saint-josephine-bakhita-part-1/
Music: Adventure Beyond by Alexander Nakarada (https://creatorchords.com) Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Sources
- Vatican City State: Saint Josephine Bakhita — Recognition of her freedom and entrance into religious life.
- Dictionary of African Christian Biography: Bakhita, Josephine — Baptism, novitiate, and religious profession.
- Comboni Missionaries: African Witnesses — St. Josephine Bakhita — The freedom dispute and her religious vows.
- Vatican: Magdalena of Canossa — Biography — The founder’s life and the congregation’s charitable mission.
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