As Black Catholic History Month comes to a close, the Archdiocese of Denver shines a light on St. Josephine Margaret Bakhita, the church's "black mother."

“St. Josephine was beatified in 1992 and canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000," the Denver archdiocese posted on Facebook Nov. 24. "She was the first Sudanese saint, and the patron saint of the country. #BlackCatholicHistoryMonth.”

According to St. Josephine's biography on Catholic Online, Josephine was born around 1869 to a tribal chief in the Darfur region of Sudan. Because of her family's status, she grew up privileged and happy, saying that when she was a child, "she did not know suffering."

That changed in 1877, when 8-year-old Josephine was kidnapped by Arab slave traders in 1877. Despite her young age, she was forced to walk over 600 miles barefoot to a slave market, and was bought and sold twice during the journey, according to her biography. Over the next several years, Josephine would be bought, sold and given away many times, suffering unspeakable abuse at the hands of many of the slave owners. 

Eventually Josephine was brought to Italy, where she was given to another family to serve as a nanny. When that family traveled abroad, Josephine was left in the care of the Canossian Sisters in Venice, who taught her about God. When the family returned, Josephine refused to leave the sisters. Her case was taken to court, where it was decided that she would be free since slavery had been outlawed in Sudan before she was born. 

Josephine became a novice with the Canossian Daughters of Charity religious order in 1893 and took her final vows in 1896, her biography states. She was assigned to a convent in Vicenza, where she worked for more than 40 years as the convent's cook and doorkeeper. Josephine also visited other convents to tell her story to the sisters and prepare them for missions in Africa. 

Called "gentle and charismatic, Josephine was often lovingly called "little brown sister" or honorably as "black mother." She often thanked her kidnappers for enslaving her, saying she might not have come to know God otherwise. Josephine's canonization began in 1958; she was venerated in 1978, and in October 2000, Josephine was elevated to saint by Pope John Paul II.  Saint Josephine Bakhita is the patron saint of Sudan, and her feast day is Feb. 8.

November was designated as Black Catholic History Month in 1990 by the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus of the United States, Saint Mary's College of California states on its website. Three popes were born in Africa: Saints Victor I, Melchiades and Gelasius I.

The Smithsonian reports that Father Herman Porter called the first meeting of the Black Catholic Clergy Caucus in Detroit following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Porter and other clergy saw a need to raise the profile of black Catholics in a predominantly white church.