Catholic Saints are practically innumerable. There are over 10,000 people that have been canonized as saints, but only two are directly associated with Hawai‘i—Marianne Cope and Joseph de Vuester a.k.a. Father Damien. May 10th marks the celebration of Saint Damien, the Belgian priest that came to the Hawaiian island of Moloka‘i in the 19th century to care for those suffering from Hansen’s Disease. Here’s some of his incredible story.
The humble Philomena Church where Father Damien served.
Moloka‘i was notorious in the 1800s as the site of the state’s leprosy settlement. Leprosy (now known as Hansen’s Disease) may have been brought back to Hawai‘i by a chief who had visited abroad in 1840 or by Chinese laborers a bit later. Stricken patients were banished to an isolated peninsula called Kalaupapa when their condition was discovered. They didn’t come here to live with the disease; they came to die. It was a hideous and vile place in those days, completely neglected by a Hawaiian government that only wanted to forget it existed.
Memorials to Father Damien can be found across Moloka‘i.
Joseph de Vuester, a 33-year-old priest from Belgium (and eventually known as named Father Damien) arrived to Kalawao on Kalaupapa on May 10th,1873. and tended to the unfortunates, living closely with them. Giving no thought to his own safety, he eventually contracted the disease and died there in 1889. The method of transmission was baffling to 19th-century doctors. They had no way of knowing that over 95% of the human population is naturally immune to the disease, which means that 19 out of 20 priests sent to Kalaupapa would never have contracted it. Damien was genetically unfortunate to be among the 5% who could. Though his last 16 years of life were a selfless dedication to the most reviled and abused people among us, Damien was tormented on his deathbed with the fear that he was unworthy of heaven. The Catholic Church felt otherwise, and in 2009 he was officially declared a saint.
Father Damien is honored inside Philomena Church.
Though the disease has a cure now, there are still a handful of elderly, former leprosy patients living at Kalaupapa, which is now a national park. (Some Kalaupapa residents prefer the more modern term, Hansen’s Disease; others prefer to leave it as leprosy. All hate the term leper.) In years past, tours of the settlement were available and just reaching the peninsula was an adventure. Natural forces in the form of landslides and a global pandemic severely curbed any access to Kalaupapa in recent years. The only outsiders allowed these days are personal guests of the residents, as well as some medical professionals. It remains to be seen if and how visitors will be allowed back to experience this amazing place.
The second saint from Kalaupapa is Mother Marianne Cope.
Today’s celebration of the life of Saint Damien is meant to raise awareness of the ordinary man that accomplished extraordinary things. This year, 2025, will be the first time in over half a decade that select outsiders will be visiting the settlement. Medical students are set to arrive to Kalaupapa this month to learn more about Damien, Hansen’s Disease and the history of the settlement. We at Revealed Travel Guides wish them luck and hope that more people will someday get to experience this amazing place in Hawai‘i’s history.
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