Father Joseph Damien De Veuster

About the Author

Father Joseph Damien De Veuster, born in 1840 in Tremelo, Belgium, was a Roman Catholic priest and missionary renowned for his selfless devotion to the leper colony on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. Joining the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, he arrived in Hawaii in 1864 and volunteered in 1873 to serve the isolated sufferers of Hansen's disease, where he spent the remainder of his life building homes, schools, and a church while providing spiritual and physical care. Affectionately called the 'Apostle of the Lepers,' Damien's compassionate work transformed the colony into a community of hope, though he himself contracted leprosy and died in 1889. His life and letters, preserved in 'The Life and Letters of Father Damien, Apostle of the Lepers,' continue to inspire acts of humanitarianism and faith worldwide.