Editing Father Damien (section)

==Mission in Hawaii==
[[File:Father Damien in 1878.jpg|thumb|160px|Father Damien in 1873 before he sailed for Hawaii]]

On 19 March 1864, Damien arrived at [[Honolulu Harbor]] on [[Oahu|Oʻahu]]. He was ordained into the priesthood on 21 May 1864, at what is now the [[Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Eynikel | first = Hilde | title = Damiaan: De Definitieve Biografie | publisher = Davidsfond | location = Leuven|page=82| year = 1997 | isbn = 978-90-6152-586-8}}</ref>

In 1865, Damien was assigned to the [[Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Hawi|Catholic Mission in North Kohala]] on the [[Hawaii (island)|island of Hawai{{okina}}i]]. While he was serving in several parishes on Oʻahu, the [[Kingdom of Hawaii|Kingdom of Hawaiʻi]] was struggling with a labor shortage and a public health crisis.<ref name="moblo">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/482885?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Pennie Moblo, "Blessed Damien of Moloka'i: The Critical Analysis of Contemporary Myth"], ''Ethnohistory'' Vol. 44, No. 4 (Autumn, 1997), pp. 691–726. Duke University Press, DOI: 10.2307/482885</ref> Many of the [[Native Hawaiians|Native Hawaiian]] parishioners had high mortality rates due to infectious diseases such as leprosy (from which he later died), [[smallpox]], [[cholera]], influenza, syphilis, and [[whooping cough]], brought to the [[Hawaiian Islands]] by foreign traders, sailors and immigrants. Thousands of Hawaiians died of such diseases, to which they had not acquired [[immunity (medical)|immunity]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Schmitt|first1=Robert|last2=Nordyke|first2=Eleanor|date=2001|title=Death in Hawaiʻi: the Epidemics of 1848–1849|url=http://hdl.handle.net/10524/339|journal=[[Hawaiian Journal of History]]|volume=35|pages=1–13|hdl=10524/339|via=eVols}}</ref>

It is believed that [[Chinese immigration to Hawaii|Chinese workers]] carried [[leprosy]] (later known as Hansen's disease) to the islands in the 1830s and 1840s. At that time, leprosy was thought to be highly contagious and was incurable. In 1865, out of fear of this contagious disease, Hawaiian King [[Kamehameha V]] and the [[Legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaii|Hawaiian Legislature]] passed the "Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy." This law quarantined the lepers of Hawaii, requiring the most serious cases to be moved to a settlement colony of [[Kalawao, Hawaii|Kalawao]] on the eastern end of the Kalaupapa peninsula on the island of [[Molokai|Moloka{{okina}}i]]. Later the settlement of [[Kalaupapa, Hawaii|Kalaupapa]] was developed. [[Kalawao County]], where the two villages are located, is separated from the rest of Moloka{{okina}}i by a steep mountain ridge. From 1866 through 1969, about 8,000 Hawaiians were sent to the Kalaupapa peninsula for medical quarantine.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kuykendall|first=Ralph|url=http://ulukau.org/elib/cgi-bin/library?e=d-0kingdom2-000Sec--11en-50-20-frameset-book-kalaupapa+leprosy-1-011escapewin&a=d&d=D0&toc=0|title=The Hawaiian Kingdom, Vol. 2: 1854-1874 Twenty Critical Years|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|year=1953|isbn=978-0-87022-432-4|location=Honolulu|pages=72–73}}</ref>

The Royal Board of Health initially provided the quarantined people with food and other supplies, but it did not have the workforce and resources to offer proper health care.<ref name=Boeynaems/> According to documents of that time, the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi did not intend for the settlements to be [[penal colony|penal colonies]]. Still, the Kingdom did not provide enough resources to support them.<ref name = Tayman/> The Kingdom of Hawaii had planned for the lepers to be able to care for themselves and grow their crops. However, due to the effects of leprosy and the peninsula's local environmental conditions, this was impractical.

By 1868, according to the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (1911), "Drunken and lewd conduct prevailed. The easy-going, good-natured people seemed wholly changed."<ref name="cathency2">{{CathEncy|wstitle=Molokai|title=Molokai|first=Joseph|last=Dutton}}</ref><ref name="critic"/>

=== Mission on Molokai ===
While Bishop [[Louis Désiré Maigret]], the [[apostolic vicariate|vicar apostolic]] of the Honolulu diocese, believed that the lepers needed a Catholic priest to assist them, he realized that this assignment had high risk. He did not want to send any one person "in the name of obedience." After much prayer, four priests volunteered to go, among them Father Damien. The bishop planned for the volunteers to take turns in rotation assisting the inhabitants.<ref name="SSCCBio"/>

On 10 May 1873, the first volunteer, Father Damien, arrived at the isolated settlement at Kalaupapa, where there were then 600 lepers,<ref name=Boeynaems/> and was presented by Bishop Louis Maigret. Damien worked with them to build a church and establish the Parish of Saint [[Philomena]]. In addition to serving as a priest, he dressed residents' ulcers, built a reservoir, built homes and furniture, made coffins, and dug graves.<ref name="colp" /> Six months after his arrival at Kalawao, he wrote to his brother, Pamphile, in Europe: "...I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to [[Jesus Christ]]."{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

During this time, Father Damien cared for the lepers and established leaders within the community to improve the state of living. Father Damien aided the colony by teaching, painting houses, organizing farms, and organizing the construction of chapels, roads, hospitals, and churches. He also dressed residents, dug graves, built coffins, ate food by hand with lepers, shared pipes with them, and lived with the lepers as equals. Father Damien also served as a priest during this time and spread the Catholic faith to the lepers; it is said that Father Damien told the lepers that despite what the outside world thought of them, they were always precious in the eyes of God.

[[File:Father Damien with the Kalawao Girls Choir, at Kalaupapa, Molokai, circa 1878.jpg|thumb|left|Father Damien, seen here with the Kalawao Girls Choir during the 1870s]]Some historians believed that Father Damien was a catalyst for a turning point for the community. Under his leadership, basic laws were enforced, shacks were upgraded and improved as painted houses, working farms were organized, and schools were established. At his request and of the lepers, Father Damien remained on Moloka{{okina}}i.<ref name= Tayman/> Many such accounts, however, overlook the roles of superintendents who were Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian. Pennie Moblo states that until the late 20th century, most historical reports of Damien's ministry revealed biases of Europeans and Americans, and nearly completely discounted the roles of the native residents on Moloka{{okina}}i.<ref name="critic">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/482885 Moblo, "Blessed Damien of Moloka{{okina}}i: Critical Analysis of Contemporary Myth"], ''Ethnohistory'' Vol. 44, No. 4 (Autumn, 1997)</ref> However, it could be asserted that Moblo does not account for the separation of civil authorities and religious authorities.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} As was customary in the time period, Father Damien's work was reported to Europeans and Americans in order to raise funds for the mission. How the colony was governed would be outside the scope of the written accounts and not important to raise funds for the charitable works of Father Damien.

===Recognition during his lifetime===
[[Kalākaua|King David Kalākaua]] bestowed on Damien the honor of "Knight Commander of the [[Royal Order of Kalākaua]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2009/bills/HR210_.HTM|title=House Resolution 210|publisher=Hawaii State Legislature|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102160606/http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2009/bills/HR210_.HTM|archive-date=2016-01-02|url-status=dead|access-date=2012-08-02}}</ref> When Crown Princess Lydia [[Liliuokalani|Lili{{okina}}uokalani]] visited the settlement to present the medal, she was reported as having been too distraught and heartbroken at the sight of the residents to read her speech. The princess shared her experience, acclaiming Damien's efforts.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://hawaiifreepress.com/Main/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1205/St-Damien-Day-Hawaii-October-11.aspx|title=St. Damien Day Hawaii October 11|publisher=Hawaii Free Press|access-date=2012-08-02}}</ref> Consequently, Damien became internationally known in the United States and Europe. American [[Protestantism|Protestants]] raised large sums of money for the missionary's work. The [[Church of England]] sent food, medicine, clothing, and supplies to the settlement. It is believed that Damien never wore the royal medal, although it was placed by his side during his funeral.

===Illness and death===
{{multiple image
<!-- Essential parameters -->
| align     = right
| direction = vertical
| width     = 220
<!-- Image 1 -->
| image1    = Father Damien on his deathbed.jpg
| alt1      =
| caption1  = Father Damien on his deathbed
<!-- Image 2 -->
| image2    =Father Damien on his funeral bier with Mother Marianne Cope by his side.jpg
| alt2      =
| caption2  = St. [[Marianne Cope]] standing beside Father Damien's funeral [[bier]] (image reversed)
<!-- Image 3 -->
| image3    =Fatherdamiengrave.jpg
| alt3      =
| caption3  = The [[leprosy]] patients of Moloka{{okina}}i gathered around Father Damien's grave in mourning
}}
Father Damien worked in Hawaii for 16 years, providing comfort to the lepers of Kalaupapa. In addition to giving the people faith, he built homes for them and he treated them with his medical expertise. He prayed at the cemetery of the deceased and he also comforted the dying at their bedsides.

In December 1884, while he was preparing to bathe, Damien inadvertently put his foot into scalding water, causing his skin to blister. He felt nothing and realized that he had contracted leprosy after working in the colony for 11 years.<ref name="Tayman" /> This was a common way for people to discover that they had been infected with leprosy. Despite his illness, Damien worked even harder.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/blogs/hawaii_today/2009/10/10/Damien_Hawaii_Saint_Molokai_Kalaupapa_canonization|title=Hawaii's Father Damien: From priesthood to sainthood|date=10 October 2009|website=Hawaii Magazine}}</ref>

In 1885, [[Masanao Goto]], a Japanese leprologist, came to [[Honolulu]] and treated Damien. He believed that leprosy was caused by a diminution of the blood. His treatment consisted of nourishing foods, moderate exercise, frequent friction to the benumbed parts, special ointments, and medical baths. The treatments relieved some of the symptoms and they were very popular with the Hawaiian patients as a result. Damien had faith in the treatments and said that he only wanted to be treated by Goto,<ref>{{Cite news| title = The lepers of Molokai| newspaper = The New York Times | page = 13 | date = 26 May 1889 | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/05/26/103189050.pdf | access-date =2010-07-21 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last = Daws| first = Gavan| title = Holy Man: Father Damien of Molokai | publisher = University of Hawaii Press | year = 1984| page = 162 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ycb1yBq7SYQC| isbn =978-0-8248-0920-1 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last = Edmond| first = Rod| author-link=Rod Edmond| title = Leprosy and Empire: A Medical and Cultural History| publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2006| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=15U9YIr1masC| isbn = 978-0-521-86584-5}}</ref> who eventually became a good friend of Father Damien.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staugustinebythesea.com/Damien_of_Molokai.htm |work=St. Augustine by-the-sea Roman Catholic Church |title=St. Damien of Molokai: Servant of God – Servant of Humanity |publisher=St. Augustine-by-the-Sea |access-date=2010-07-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100713022835/http://staugustinebythesea.com/Damien_of_Molokai.htm |archive-date=13 July 2010}}</ref>

Despite the fact that the illness was slowing his body down, Damien engaged in a flurry of activities during his last years. With his remaining time, he tried to advance and complete as many projects as possible. While he was continuing to spread the Catholic Faith and aid the lepers during their treatments, Damien completed several building projects and improved orphanages. Four volunteers arrived at Kalaupapa to help the ailing missionary: a Belgian priest, Louis Lambert Conrardy; a soldier, [[Joseph Dutton]] (an [[American Civil War]] veteran who left behind a marriage which had been broken by his [[alcoholism]]); a male nurse from [[Chicago]], James Sinnett; and Mother (now Saint) [[Marianne Cope]], who had been the head of the [[Franciscan]]-run St Joseph's Hospital in [[Syracuse, New York]].<ref name="damien">{{cite news|title=Hawaii's Father Damien: From priesthood to sainthood|publisher=Hawaii Magazine|url=http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/blogs/hawaii_today/2009/10/10/Damien_Hawaii_Saint_Molokai_Kalaupapa_canonization/4|access-date=2012-08-02|first=Sherie|last=Carr|date=10 October 2009|archive-date=13 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313001726/http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/blogs/hawaii_today/2009/10/10/Damien_Hawaii_Saint_Molokai_Kalaupapa_canonization/4|url-status=dead}}</ref> Conrardy took up Damien's pastoral duties. Cope organized a working hospital. Dutton attended to the construction and maintenance of the community's buildings. Sinnett nursed Damien during the last phases of his illness.

With an arm in a sling, with a foot in bandages, and with his leg dragging, Damien knew that his death was near. He was bedridden on 23 March 1889, and on 30 March, he made a general confession.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/DAMIEN.HTM |title=Damien the Leper|publisher=The Franciscans of St. Anthony's Guild|location= Paterson, New Jersey|date=1974}}</ref> Damien died of leprosy at 8:00&nbsp;a.m. on 15 April 1889, at the age of 49.<ref>PBS, 23 January 2009, [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2009/01/23/january-23-2009-father-damiens-legacy/2030/ Father Damien's Legacy], Retrieved 11 September 2015</ref> The next day, after the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] was said by Father Moellers at St. Philomena's, the whole settlement followed the funeral cortège to the cemetery. Damien was laid to rest under the same [[pandanus]] tree where he first slept upon his arrival on Moloka{{okina}}i.<ref>{{cite web|title=Damien The Leper|publisher=EWTN| url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/DAMIEN.HTM|access-date=2012-08-02}}</ref>

In January 1936, at the request of King [[Leopold III of Belgium]] and the [[Politics of Belgium|Belgian government]], Damien's body was returned to his native land in Belgium. It was transported aboard the Belgian ship ''[[Mercator (ship)|Mercator]].'' Damien was buried in Leuven, the historic university city which is close to the village where he was born. After Damien's beatification in June 1995, the remains of his right hand were returned to Hawaii and re-interred in his original grave on Moloka{{okina}}i.<ref name="starbulletin.com">{{Cite news| title = The Life of Father Damien| newspaper = The Star-Bulletin| location = Honolulu, Hawaii| date = 7 October 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | url=http://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10524/12254 |title = Letters for Damien|year = 2010|last1 = Demers|first1 = Daniel J.|website=evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu}}</ref>