[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 143 (Tuesday, October 6, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S10165]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 304--COMMEMORATING THE CANONIZATION OF FATHER DAMIEN 
                    DE VEUSTER, SS.CC. TO SAINTHOOD

  Mr. INOUYE (for himself and Mr. Akaka) submitted the following 
resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 304

       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;
       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;
       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
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the canonization of Father Damien to 
     sainthood; and
       (2) honors and praises Father Damien for his legacy, work, 
     and service to the Hansen's disease colony on the island of 
     Molokai.

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