Canossian convent (Tomb of St. Josephine Bakhita)
The burial place of St. Josephine Bakhita.
St. Josephine Bakhita → Plan a trip hereThe Story
The Canossian convent of Schio, a small city in Italy's Veneto region, is home to the Church of the Holy Family, where the remains of St. Josephine Bakhita rest. What was once simply the chapel of a religious institute has become a shrine visited by pilgrims from around the world who come to honor a woman whose life led from slavery in Africa to sainthood in Italy. Born around 1869 in the Darfur region of Sudan, she was kidnapped as a young girl and sold into slavery, changing hands several times and suffering great cruelty. Her captors gave her the name Bakhita, meaning "fortunate." Brought to Italy in the 1880s, she came to know the Catholic faith through the Canossian Sisters in Venice, and when her freedom was contested, an Italian court ruled in her favor, since slavery had no standing under Italian law. She was baptized in 1890, taking the name Josephine, and made her religious profession as a Canossian sister in 1896. From 1902 until her death on February 8, 1947, she lived at the Canossian convent in Schio, serving her community in humble tasks as cook, sacristan, and portress. The townspeople came to love her deeply, calling her "Madre Moretta," and remembered her gentleness, forgiveness, and joy. She often said that if she were to meet those who had enslaved her, she would thank them, for through everything God had led her to know Christ. St. John Paul II canonized her on October 1, 2000, making her the first saint of modern Sudan. Pope Benedict XVI opened his encyclical Spe Salvi with her story as a witness of Christian hope, and she is today invoked especially as a patroness of victims of human trafficking. Her tomb in Schio continues to draw pilgrims seeking her intercession and her example of forgiveness.
Church Recognition
St. Josephine Bakhita was beatified in 1992 and canonized by St. John Paul II in 2000; her shrine at the Canossian Institute in Schio is a recognized sanctuary in the care of the Canossian Daughters of Charity, and her February 8 feast is now also observed as the International Day of Prayer against human trafficking.
Catholic Teaching
Her life bears witness to the inviolable dignity of every human person and the Church's condemnation of slavery (CCC 2414), while her tomb invites the veneration of the saints within the communion of saints (CCC 946–962), through whom God's grace can transform even the deepest suffering into hope.
Plan Your Visit
Practical
Additional Information
Pilgrims visit the Church of the Holy Family, where the saint's remains rest, along with a permanent exhibition on her life and the room where she died. Celebrations peak around her February 8 feast; groups are asked to reserve visits through the shrine, and Schio is easily reached by train from Vicenza, Verona, or Venice.
Go Deeper
The official shrine website of the Canossian Sisters of Schio (canossianebakhitaschio.org) offers pilgrim information and materials on her life; see also Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Spe Salvi, which opens with her story, and the Catechism on the communion of saints (CCC 946–962).
Location
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In the Area
Other sacred sites within 40 miles.