St. Josephine Bakhita (d. 1947) was born into a wealthy Sudanese family near Darfur. She was kidnapped when she was nine years old and forced into slavery. Her kidnappers named her Bakhita (“fortunate” in Arabic). She was sold and resold, beaten and tortured by her owners, until in 1883 she was purchased by a kind Italian consul who treated her well. He brought her to Italy to work...