4 months ago
HONOLULU (AP) -- Hawaii is holding ceremonies this weekend to celebrate the elevation of one of its own to sainthood.
A relic of the Belgian-born priest known as Father Damien will be welcomed to Honolulu Sunday, after making the rounds of the islands. The heel bone will be taken to the Honolulu cathedral where Damien was ordained in 1864.
It will also be taken to the former Hawaiian royal palace, where chanters will deliver welcoming words, dancers will perform hula and representatives from different faiths will speak.
Long before he was canonized in Rome this month, Damien was a saint to the people of Hawaii. He cared for exiled leprosy patients in the mid-1800s when no one else would, and eventually died of the disfiguring disease.
Another relic, Damien's right hand, is kept at the former leper colony where he was originally buried. His body was moved to Belgium in 1936.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
