In mid-October Hawaii Catholics will get their first saint when the Belgian-born missionary priest Blessed Damien de Veuster is canonized along with Blessed Jeanne Jugan, founder of the Little Sisters of the Poor, and three others.
Father Damien spent the last 16 years of his life caring for patients with Hansen’s disease, or leprosy, on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. This article in the Hawaii Catholic Herald, Honolulu’s diocesan newspaper, gives just a glimpse of the priest’s impact. It recounts the recent visit to Hawaii by an 85-year-old woman whose father suffered from Hansen’s disease and was cared for by the soon-to-be saint.
