Welcome to our Parish!
Blessed Damien of
Moloka'i Ecumenical Catholic Mission is a Catholic Church under the United Reform Catholic Church
International.
The Church is named in honor of Father Damien (Joseph De Veuster), Missionary
to the Hawaiian leper colony on Moloka`i, Hawai`i.
Born in Tremelo, Belgium, 3 January 1840, he joined the Congregation of
the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (“Picpus Fathers”) in 1859 taking the name of Damien. He arrivied in Honolulu in March 1864 and was ordained a priest on 21 May that same year.
In 1873, he volunteered to serve the asylum on the island of Moloka`i. Out
of a chaos and neglect, he brought order, hope and support for the community, and built houses, churches, an orphanage and
a hospital.
By 1885, he himself contracted “leprosy” but continued his ministry
with the help of others from his congregation and the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse, and especially Mother Marianne
Cope. Father Damien died on Moloka'i, 15 April 1889. His remains were
removed to Louvain in 1936 and he was beatified in 1994.
Further research is being presented to request the canonization of Father Damien to
Sainthood.
