Priest Who Lived With Leprosy Now A Saint

AP Report ^ | October 11th 2009

[Steelfish]

Priest Who Lived With Leprosy Now A Saint Pope Benedict praises Father Damien, who died from leprosy in 1889

Audrey Toguchi, 80, from Hawaii, at right, with her doctor Walter Chang, looks on during a canonization ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Sunday.

VATICAN CITY - A 19th-century priest whose courageous work with leprosy patients in Hawaii has been likened to the efforts of those battling the stigma of AIDS was elevated to sainthood Sunday by Pope Benedict XVI, along with four other Catholics he hailed as heroes of holiness.

Among the 10,000 pilgrims packing St. Peter's Basilica was Hawaii resident Audrey Toguchi, an 80-year-old retired school teacher whose recovery from lung cancer a decade ago stunned her doctor and was ruled a miracle by the Vatican.

Toguchi has credited her survival to praying to Belgium-born Jozef De Veuster, also known as Father Damien, who himself died from leprosy in 1889 after contracting the disease while working with ostracized patients living on Molokai island.

Some 40,000 faithful who couldn't fit inside the vast church filled St. Peter's Square on a warm, sunny morning. Many women from Hawaii wore headpieces made of roses and large beaded necklaces over floral-print loose gowns.

Among the five Benedict added to the church's roll call of saints is French nun Jeanne Jugan, who helped the elderly, including some abandoned by their families. Jugan, also known as Marie de la Croix, was "an authentic Mother Teresa ahead of her time," Vatican Radio said. Her Little Sisters of the Poor order of nuns today runs homes for impoverished old people worldwide. She died in 1879.

‘The heroism of sanctity’ Toguchi and her doctor, Walter Chang, joined in one basilica procession, and two leprosy patients participated in another.

[Cicero]

Great. Fr. Damien certainly deserves it. A remarkable man.

[RoadTest]

None of the four Gospels says you have to be a Catholic to be a saint. Of course, the Christians somehow got along without a “pope” for three hundred years - maybe that’s why.

[RoadTest]

“Great. Fr. Damien certainly deserves it. A remarkable man.”

Um - - - he won’t even be aware of it.

[BIGLOOK]

Sainthood well deserved. Fr. Damien lived it and paid the price.

[T Minus Four]

I wonder what took God so long? The guy’s been dead for years and years.

[john drake]

Correct regarding the first part of your statement; and given that the Catholic Church collected and edited the original writings of the four Gospels, it was objective of them not to do so. The Catholic Church considers Peter the Apostle, the first Pope and then the succession throughout the history of Christendom to the current Pope. I suppose if you had asked Peter (Simon) if he was a Christian, or any of the other Apostles for that matter, they would have considered themselves Jews who believed that Christ was the Messiah (Messianic Jews.) The term Christian didn’t arrive until later, from what I’ve read but am willing to understand otherwise.

[DonaldC]

Acts 11:26 bump for later.

[Cicero]

Um . . . he won’t even be aware of it.

Uh . . . You think?

[Cicero]

The Church teaches that there are many unrecognized saints. This is just an official confirmation. It doesn’t mean that he is a saint today but wasn’t one yesterday.

[nufsed]

http://www.damien-hs.edu/

I wonder if my high school will add St. to its name?

[Steelfish]

That’s a poor misread of history. Peter was the first Pope and we have an unbroken line of apostolic succession. If only you’d do some basic research. The Catholic Church does no more than confirm for us here on earth a person who is already a saint in heaven through one of the most rigorous processes for such a confirmation. This is why it takes tens of years.

[A.A. Cunningham]

None of the four Gospels, or any of the 69 other books of Sacred Scripture, contain the word Bible. So why do you read it?

The rest of your post qualifies as revisionist history.

[mlizzy]

Um - - - he won’t even be aware of it.

I don't know about that! My guess is that they're all poppin' a few brews in the saint section in heaven today. Although this is just a confirmation; Fr. Damien was a saint at his last draw of a breath on earth. And there are so many saints that will never receive an earthly confirmation, as they do not have the financial backing/interest to look into the incredibly long and thorough process of determining one's sainthood. My sister had a saintly friend who was dying of brain cancer. After her wake (where her rosary she was holding turned gold in her casket), the priest that would be officiating at her Mass said he literally saw a vision of her while he was driving from the funeral home and she was indeed in heaven. Now, one can make of that what they want (my agnostic brother says that Catholics pull the switcharoo regarding the rosaries), but, my guess (from all that I know of her) is that she indeed may have died a saint.

[Always Right]

That’s a poor misread of history. Peter was the first Pope and we have an unbroken line of apostolic succession. If only you’d do some basic research.

The Catholic version of history.

[khnyny]

Thanks for posting. There is a very interesting statue at our nation’s Capitol of Father Damien (duplicate at the State House in Hawaii). A true Saint on earth.

The priests and religious who worked on Molokai are all blessed.

http://www.hawaiicatholicherald.org/BlessedDamien/tabid/311/newsid916/1567/Default.aspx

[A.A. Cunningham]

As compared to your version which is nearly two millenia removed from events.

[Salvation]

Priest Who Lived With Leprosy Now A Saint
Leprosy patients from Hawaii to see canonization of Fr. Damien
A Saint on Capitol Hill

Priest Who Aided Lepers In Hawaii To Become Saint
"Lepers' Apostle" to Be Declared a Saint
Finally, It's Official: Molokai's Hero = Hawaii's Saint
A Parish of Lepers [Bl. Damien Joseph de Veuster of Molokai]
Bld. Damien Joseph de Veuster of Molokai

[Salvation]

The Vatican does a detailed study of these cases. That’s what takes so long.

[Salvation]

Probably.