This week in Christian history: first Mother’s Day celebration, Father Damien travels to leper colony

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, May 05, 2024

Father Damien travels to leper colony – May 10, 1873

A statue of Father Damien (1840-1889), a priest who ministered to a leper colony in Hawaii, placed in the U.S. Capitol. | Flickr/USCapitol

This week marks the anniversary of when Father Damien, the Belgian Catholic priest known for his missionary work among a leper colony in Hawaii, began his travel to the mission post.

Located on the island of Molokai and known as Kalaupapa, the leper colony would be where Father Damien lived the rest of his life, eventually dying of the disease in 1889.

“He became a source of consolation and encouragement for his flock by becoming the doctor of their souls and of their bodies without distinction of race or religion,” stated the Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.

“He gave a voice to the voiceless and built a community where they discovered new reasons for living. That once lawless place had now become a place where the law of love prevailed.”