Father Damien
19th century Belgian Roman Catholic priest and saint (1840–1889)
Feast: 10 May (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Jozef De Veuster was born in Tremelo, Belgium, on 3 January 1840, and joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, taking the name Damien. He landed at Honolulu on 19 March 1864 and was ordained a priest there that May.
On 10 May 1873 he went to the leprosy settlement at Kalaupapa on Molokaʻi and stayed there as its priest. In December 1884, after eleven years there, he found he had caught the disease himself. He died at Kalaupapa on 15 April 1889, aged 49.
The miracles
Sister Simplicia Hue — France — 1895
A French nun lay dying of a long intestinal illness. She began a novena to Father Damien, and her pain and symptoms disappeared overnight.
Audrey Toguchi — Hawaii, USA — 1997–1999
A Hawaii woman was diagnosed in 1997 with liposarcoma, a cancer of the fat cells, which spread through her body despite surgery; she was given a few months to live. She, her family and friends asked Father Damien's intercession, and she prayed at his grave on Molokaʻi. By 1999 the cancer had gone. Her physician, Dr Walter Chang, confirmed the healing, and the Church found no scientific explanation.
Why that counted as sanctity
The case of Sister Simplicia Hue was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle, opening the way to beatification. Beatification followed on 4 June 1995 by John Paul II. The case of Audrey Toguchi was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 2 June 2008, opening the way to canonisation. Canonisation followed on 11 October 2009 by Benedict XVI.
- Hawaii Catholic Herald, Oct 2024 - 15 years a saint
- EWTN News - the miracle that led to the canonisation of St Damien
- Wikipedia - Father Damien (life, beatification, approval of the second miracle)
- Wikidata Q232785 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Father Damien (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.