Last month a president, this month a saint

While the city of New York is breathlessly awaiting word from Pope Benedict of a new archbishop, his announcement of a saint for Hawaii is scheduled for Saturday. Fellow alum Damien de Veuster, a Belgian priest, is also known as Damien of Molokai. In the 1870's, when diseases brought by European settlers were spreading unchecked in the Hawaiian islands, Damien volunteered to serve a leper colony on the island of Molokai. His work and his life became the stuff of legend and sanctity, inspiring countless people through the years, including Mahatma Gandhi. He eventually contracted leprosy himself, and died in the midst of his people. Although mandatory isolation ended in1969, the colony is still there, and currently 4 victims of what is now known as Hansen's disease live there. Damien meanwhile, has a statue at the US capitol, and has been unofficially adopted as the patron of those with HIV/AIDS. Maybe now the patronage can become official.

I remember watching a one-man play about Damien on PBS as a kid (I grew up both pious and a geek.) Years later as a seminarian studying at the University of Leuven in Belgium (somewhat less pious, still geeky) I ran into Damien again. This time literally. He was buried in the crypt of the church around the corner from the American College where I was living. So I'll be celebrating along with Belgium and Hawaii when Damien is officially recognized as a saint this weekend.