IV
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 159
Honoring the contributions of Father Joseph Damien de Veuster for his
service to humanity, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 25, 1995
Mrs. MINK of Hawaii (for herself and Mr. ABERCROMBIE), introduced the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce
RESOLUTION
Honoring the contributions of Father Joseph Damien de
Veuster for his service to humanity, and for other purposes.
Whereas Father Joseph Damien de Veuster was born in
Tremeloo, Belgium, on January 3, 1840;
Whereas Father Damien entered the Sacred Hearts Order at
Louvain, Belgium, as a postulant in January 1859 and
took his final vows in Paris on October 7, 1860;
Whereas, after arriving in Honolulu on March 19, 1864, to
join the Sacred Hearts Mission in Hawaii, Father
Damien was ordained to the priesthood in the Cathedral
of Our Lady of Peace on May 21, 1864;
Whereas Father Damien was sent to the Puna, Kohala, and
Hamakua districts on the island of Hawaii, where Father
HRES 159 IH
Damien served people in isolated communities for 9
years;
Whereas the alarming spread of Hansen’s disease, also
known as leprosy, for which there was no known cure,
prompted the Hawaiian Legislature to pass an Act to
Prevent the Spread of Leprosy in 1865;
Whereas the Act required segregating those afflicted with
Hansen’s disease to the isolated peninsula of Kalaupapa,
Molokai, where those afflicted by Hansen’s disease were
virtually imprisoned by steep cliffs and open seas;
Whereas those afflicted by Hansen’s disease were forced to
separate from their families, had meager medical care
and supplies, and had poor living and social conditions;
Whereas in July 1872, Father Damien wrote to the Father
General that many of his parishioners had been sent to
the settlement on Molokai and lamented that he should
join them;
Whereas on May 12, 1873, Father Damien petitioned Bishop
Maigret, having received a request earlier for a resident
priest at Kalaupapa, to allow Father Damien to stay on
Molokai and devote his life to Hansen’s disease patients;
Whereas for 16 years, from 1873 to 1889, Father Damien
labored to bring material and spiritual comfort to the
Hansen’s disease patients of Kalaupapa, building chapels,
water cisterns, and boys and girls homes;
Whereas on April 15, 1889, at the age of 49, Father Damien
died of Hansen’s disease contracted a few years earlier;
Whereas the Roman Catholic Church began the consideration
of beatification of Father Damien in February 1955, and
Father Damien will be beatified on June 4, 1995, by
Pope John Paul II in Brussels, Belgium;
HRES 159 IH
Whereas Father Damien was selected by the State of Hawaii
in 1965 as one of the distinguished citizens of the State
whose statue would be installed in Statuary Hall in the
United States Capitol;
Whereas the life of Father Damien continues to be a pro-
found example of selfless devotion to others and remains
an inspiration for all mankind;
Whereas common use of sulfone drugs in the 1940’s removed
the dreaded sentence of disfigurement and death imposed
by Hansen’s disease, and the 1969 repeal of the isolation
law allowed greater mobility for former Hansen’s disease
patients;
Whereas in the mid-1970’s, the community of former Han-
sen’s disease patients at Molokai recommended the estab-
lishment of a United States National Park at Kalaupapa,
out of a strong sense of stewardship of the legacy left by
Father Damien and the rich history of Kalaupapa;
Whereas the Kalaupapa National Historical Park was estab-
lished in 1980 with a provision that former Hansen’s dis-
ease patients may remain in the park as long as they
wish; and
Whereas the remaining patients at Kalaupapa, many of
whom were exiled as children or young adults and who
have endured immeasurable hard ships and untold sor-
rows, are a special legacy for America, exemplifying the
dignity and strength of the human spirit: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives of the
United States recognizes Father Damien for his services
to humanity and takes this occasion to—