III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 304 

Commemorating the canonization of Father Damien de Veuster, SS.CC. to 

sainthood. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 6, 2009 

Mr. INOUYE (for himself and Mr. AKAKA) submitted the following resolution; 

which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the canonization of Father Damien de 

Veuster, SS.CC. to sainthood. 

Whereas Father Damien de Veuster, SS.CC. was born Joseph 

de Veuster in Tremelo, Belgium, on January 3, 1840, 

and in 1859, at age 19, he entered the Congregation of 

the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Louvain and selected Damien as his religious name; 

Whereas in 1863, Father Damien received permission to replace his ill brother, and sailed to the Hawaiian Islands 

to perform missionary work; 

Whereas Father Damien arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii on 

March 19, 1864, was ordained to the priesthood at the 

Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace on May 21, 1864, and 

began his pastoral ministry on the island of Hawaii; 


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•SRES 304 ATS 

Whereas the Hawaiian Government deported individuals infected with Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy, to 

a peninsula on the island of Molokai, to prevent further 

spread of the disease, and Bishop Louis Maigret, SS.CC. 

sought the help of Father Damien and other priests to 

provide spiritual assistance for the sufferers of Hansen’s 

disease; 

Whereas several priests volunteered to work on Molokai for 

a few months, but Father Damien requested to remain 

permanently with the individuals suffering from Hansen’s 

disease, and was among the first to leave for the island 

of Molokai on May 10, 1873; 

Whereas for 16 years, Father Damien served as a voice of 

hope and a source of consolation and encouragement for 

the individuals afflicted with Hansen’s disease, accomplishing remarkable achievements, including building 

houses and hospitals, taking care of the patients’ spiritual and physical needs, building 6 chapels, constructing 

a home for boys and a home for girls, and burying the 

hundreds who died during his years on the island of 

Molokai; 

Whereas Father Damien died on April 15, 1889, after contracting Hansen’s disease, and his remains were transferred to Belgium in 1936, where he was interred in the 

crypt of the church of the Congregation of the Sacred 

Hearts at Louvain; 

Whereas in 1938, the process for beatification for Father 

Damien was introduced at Malines, Belgium; 

Whereas on April 15, 1969, a statue of Father Damien and 

a statue of King Kamehameha I, gifts from the State of 

Hawaii, were unveiled at the Capitol Rotunda; 


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Whereas on July 7, 1977, Pope Paul VI declared Father 

Damien ‘‘venerable’’, the first of 3 steps that lead to 

sainthood; 

Whereas on June 4, 1995, Pope John Paul II declared Father Damien ‘‘Blessed Damien’’, and his feast is on May 

10, the day Father Damien first entered the island of 

Molokai; and 

Whereas Father Damien will be canonized a saint on October 

11, 2009, by Pope Benedict XVI: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the canonization of Father 

3 Damien to sainthood; and 

4 (2) honors and praises Father Damien for his 

5 legacy, work, and service to the Hansen’s disease 

6 colony on the island of Molokai. 

Æ 


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