Memorial To Father Damien De Veuster At St. Benedicts Painted Church On The Big Island, Hawaii. Editorial Photo

Memorial to Father Damien De Veuster at St. Benedicts Painted Church on the Big Island, Hawaii. He was recognized for his ministry, which he led from 1873 until his death in 1889, in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi for people with leprosy or Hansen`s disease, who lived in government-mandated medical quarantine in a settlement on the Kalaupapa Peninsula of Molokaʻi. After eleven years he contracted leprosy and continued his work with the lepers until he died from the disease on April 15th, 1889. Father Damien has been described as a `martyr of charity`. Damien De Veuster is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. In the Anglican Communion and other Christian denominations, Damien is considered the spiritual patron for leprosy and outcasts.