IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 786 

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

sainthood. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 

Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, Mr. 

PERLMUTTER, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. 

KUCINICH, Mr. LUJA ́N, Ms. MARKEY of Colorado, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. 

ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. SALAZAR, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. THOMPSON of 

California, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. KAGEN, Mr. 

HONDA, Mr. HOLT, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. 

BERRY, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Mr. LOEBSACK, 

Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. CLARKE, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. 

ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. SCHAUER, Mr. OLVER, Mr. HINCHEY, 

Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. PASTOR of Arizona, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, and Mr. WALZ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Affairs 

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; 


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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; 

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

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; 

Whereas working together, Father Damien and the people 

isolated on the Kalaupapa peninsula accomplished 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 transVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:14 Oct 01, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR786.IH HR786

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ferred 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 in April 1965, the Legislature of the State of Hawaii selected Father Damien as the first of its two selections for the National Statuary Hall Collection in the 

U.S. Capitol; 

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; 

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 House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes the canonization of Father 

3 Damien to sainthood; and 

4 (2) honors and praises Father Damien for his 

5 legacy, work, service, and his insistence on recog6 nizing the human rights and dignity of every indi7 vidual, particularly those who lived alongside him at 


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1 the Hansen’s disease settlement on the island of 

2 Molokai. 

Æ 


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