Editing Father Damien (section)

=== 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.