Father Damien de Veuster was a Belgian priest who subjected himself to leprosy to minister to the lepers’ colony on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. He lived from 1840-89. (Courtesy Photo) Jozef de ...

Richard Marks, a survivor of Hansen’s disease, or leprosy, looks out over the Pacific Ocean at Kalaupapa, Hawaii, with 1,600-foot cliffs in the background. Below: Photographs of patients disfigured by ...

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - On May 10, the Catholic Church honors Father Damien, the Belgian priest who was elevated to sainthood for his work with Hansen’s disease patients in the leper colony at ...

Charnel chaos, forgotten by the outside world, was Hawaii’s leper settlement on Molokai Island when in 1873 a young Belgian named Father Damien (Joseph De Veuster) begged his bishop to send him there.

Flags blow in the breeze at the grave of Father Damien outside St. Philomena Church on Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Damien was canonized a Catholic saint in 2009 for his work taking ...