25th October, 2009

DAVID ADAMS

Jozef de Veuster, better known as Father Damien, dedicated his life to helping lepers, spending 16 years living among them on a Hawaiian island until he eventually died of the same disease.

THE "APOSTLE TO THE LEPERS": Father Damien in a photo take in 1888, a year before his death by an unidentified journalist visiting Molokai. PICTURE: www.wikipedia.com. “I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ” - Father Damien in a letter to his brother.

Father Damien, among five new ‘saints’ canonised by Pope Benedict XVI this month, was born on 3rd January, 1840, the seventh child of a Flemish farmer-merchant in the village of Tremelo, Belgium.

He attended college at Braine-le-Comte and then took his first vows as a novice in Leuven in 1859, taking the name of Brother Damianus (Damien in French). Following in his brother Auguste’s footsteps, he became joined the Society of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Picpus Brothers) in 1860 and, despite concerns over his lack of education, was allowed to work towards becoming a priest

During his studies, he apparently spent countless hours praying to be sent on a mission, a prayer which was answered when his brother Auguste, known as Father Pamphile, was unable to travel to Hawaii, then known as the Sandwich Islands, to work as a missionary because of illness.

Damien went in his place, landing after a five month journey at Honolulu in March, 1864. He was ordained a priest on in May at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace and was assigned first to the east and then the north side of the island of Hawaii where he spent the next nine years.

Hawaii at the time was facing a public health crisis following the introduction of diseases like influenza and syphilis by visiting foreign traders and sailors. Thousands died.

Leprosy (now known as Hansen’s disease) was also affecting significant numbers of people. It was thought to be highly contagious at the time so in 1865 an act was passed which quarantined lepers to settlements on the Kalaupapa peninsula on the island of Molokai. More than 8,000 people were recorded as being sent here between 1866 and 1969.

It was hoped the colony would be self-supporting but soon became clear that most of those living there were too ill or too demoralised to be self-sufficient and complaints were made of reported insufficient supplies and housing. There were also reports of vice and immorality.

Catholic Bishop Louis Maigret believed the lepers needed a priest to minister to their needs and called for volunteers. Four priests put themselves forward and it was decided they would take turns caring for those in the colonies.

Father Damien, the first to volunteer, arrived at Kalaupapa on 10th May, 1873, and there Bishop Maigret presented him to the 816 lepers as their priest.

Father Damien built a church there and established the Parish of Saint Philomena. His role at the colony involved not only performing the functions of a priest, but everything from dressing ulcers to building homes and beds, making coffins and digging graves. As he wrote to his brother, Father Pamphile, six months after his arrival, “I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ”.

His arrival apparently marked a turning point in the colony - law was now enforced, better constructed houses appeared, farms were created and schools built. Despite the fact his time was now up, Father Damien asked - and was allowed to - remain on Molokai.

In December 1884, Father Damien found he could no longer feel his feet and came to the conclusion he had contracted leprosy. He was treated by a Japanese expert, Dr Masanao Goto, in 1885, which did relieve some the symptoms.

Despite his illness Father Damien hurried to complete many building projects and completing the organisation of the settlement. Among those who came to help him in his last days were Belgian priest Louis Lambert Conrady, a nun, Mother Marianne Cope, an American nurse, James Sinnett, and a former American Civil War soldier, Joseph Dutton.

Father Damien became bedridden in March 1889 and eventually died of leprosy at 8am on 15th April, 1889. He was aged 49 years.

While Father Damien’s work had been acclaimed by many - notably after Princess Lydia Liliuokalani visited the colony to award him a medal and subsequently publicly acclaimed his work - he did attract criticism from others (the most notable of which was Presbyterian Minister, Rev CM Hyde, whose stinging attack was famously rebutted by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson).

His remarkable life has since been celebrated books, documentaries and the 2000 film, Molokai: The Story of Father Damien, which starred David Wenham as the priest.

His life of service to those who society cast out continues to inspire others to do the same.

SOURCES AND FURTHER INFORMATION:
~ www.starbulletin.com/specialprojects/09/saintdamien/20091007_The_life_of_Father_Damien.html

~ www.newadvent.org/cathen/04615a.htm

~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Damien

~ www.nps.gov/archive/kala/docs/damien.htm

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