President Honors Soon-to-Be Saint
EmailABC News' Jordyn Phelps reports:
In a show of home state pride, the president today honored the life of a Roman Catholic priest from Hawaii who will be declared a saint by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday.
Blessed Damien de Veuster is remembered for his ministerial work to those affected by leprosy, also known as Hanson’s disease.
“Father Damien challenged the stigmatizing effects of disease, giving voice to the voiceless and ultimately sacrificing his own life to bring dignity to so many,” the president said in a statement.
In ministering to those affected by leprosy, Father Damien contracted the disease himself and died as a result in 1889 at the age of 49.
Father Damien was a priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Hawaii, where the president was born and spent many of his childhood years. While Obama did not attend this church, he recalled the positive influence his ministry had on Hawaii.
“I recall many stories from my youth about his tireless work there to care for those suffering from leprosy who had been cast out,” the president said.
The president said Father Damien’s life should stand as an example for how to deal with modern-day diseases.
“In our own time as millions around the world suffer from disease, especially the pandemic of HIV/AIDS, we should draw on the example of Fr. Damien’s resolve in answering the urgent call to heal and care for the sick,” Obama said.
The president also offered his prayers to people of all faiths who join the Catholic Church in celebrating the life of Blessed Damien de Veuster.
President Obama plans to send a delegation to attend Sunday’s ceremony, during which Father Damien will officially receive the title of saint, at the Holy See. The delegation will be led by Miguel Humberto Diaz, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See. Accompanying Diaz will be Hawaiian Sen. Daniel Kahikina Akaka; Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J.; the superintendent of Kalaupapa National Historic Park, Stephen Prokop; Bishop of Honolulu Larry Silva, and President of the Catholic Health Association of the United States Sister Carol Ann Keehan.
–Jordyn Phelps
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When will Obama be granted sainthood? Surely he deserves it after all he has done.
Posted by: JimAK | October 9, 2009, 7:00 pm 7:00 pm
Canonize Both! Save the Pope a trip!
Posted by: mesquito | October 9, 2009, 7:16 pm 7:16 pm
The world has gone more crazy with each passing year. By year 3000, we will have awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for a man who doesn’t eat junk food.
Posted by: young_voter | October 9, 2009, 8:01 pm 8:01 pm
I bet Obama will now trip over himself to get to the microphones to exploit the opportunity to steal Fr. Damien’s thunder and talk about . . . you guessed it, himself and take credit for the saint’s good work. He’ll talk about Hawaii and how his heritage was deeply indebted to Fr. Damien, and somehow slip in promoting his political pet projects (like how Fr. Damien “if he was a voter would have surely voted for a Government Medical Plan”. Just a prediction.
Posted by: Old Glory | October 9, 2009, 9:23 pm 9:23 pm
Obama will use any excuse to “speak” Sorry guy you are not in the same league as Father Damien! This is to be his day but watch our great leader try to make it about himself. Can’t let anyone else get attention, not even a saint!
Posted by: whatsgoingonhere? | October 9, 2009, 10:22 pm 10:22 pm
I just read the headline.
Is Obama honoring himself?
Posted by: Angelo | October 9, 2009, 11:03 pm 11:03 pm
Oh wait, he already has exploited this Roman Catholic Saint: “we should draw on the example of Fr. Damien’s resolve in answering the urgent call to heal and care for the sick”. This is his political code word for ‘support Government Medical takeover’. Wow, I guess I didn’t read closely this part of the article and predictably know that Obama’s enormous ego would steal Fr. Damien’s thunder.
Posted by: Old Glory | October 9, 2009, 11:47 pm 11:47 pm
Obama does not have the right to honor anyone. In fact I would not have that communist or congress or his goons at any function if they paid me tons of money.
Just the media keeping him in the lime light. They will wake up when we boycott them and they go broke.
Posted by: Mario | October 10, 2009, 12:42 am 12:42 am
Father Damien’s story is even better: he pioneered an orphanage for “throw-away” boys with leprosy on the island of Moloka’i, at a time when not many people were willing to even be present with the boys, let alone care for them…but anyone who knows Hawai’i at all knows that where Obama lived (Oahu) is quite far from where Fr. Damian lived and worked. The point may be petty, but the blog post makes it sound like Obama has a personal connection to all of this, and that seems a stretch to me. Another point: Father Damien’s tireless work with lepers is more a testament to his Christian love than it is to a lesson about health care, as Obama seems to suggest.
Posted by: kelli | October 10, 2009, 1:14 am 1:14 am
kelli | Oct 10, 2009 1:14:57 AM – Father Damien’s tireless work with lepers is more a testament to his Christian love than it is to a lesson about health care, as Obama seems to suggest.——– If you read the article again, you’d see the only one suggesting that, is you.
Posted by: Try the truth | October 10, 2009, 10:38 am 10:38 am
Kelli,
Read the article and study Obama’s carefully chosen words. Fr. Damien lived during a time when there were no established medical facilities or modern health care system like we have today, including Medicare which cares for everybody w/o insurance. Everybody in this country gets treated, period.
So why would Obama say “we should draw on the example of Fr. Damien . . . to heal and care for the sick”? Are we all supposed to become doctors? Are we all supposed to sign up to learn how to insert IV’s? Obama is crafting his message for all of us to jump on his personal bandwagon of socialized Government Medical using this occasion from the Roman Catholic Church that is honoring this man’s love for our Lord Jesus Christ and his tireless effort to see Christ in his neighbor – not because he was an advocate for socialized health care as Obama’s words obviously seem to suggest. These aren’t the 1800′s anymore. We have a medical system in place now. Obama is exploiting this saintly man’s extraordinary care for the sick, during a time in the 1800′s of no health care, to peddle Obama’s takeover of the since evolved system that has revolutionized over time. Obama’s words are merely to peddle his public support for his Government Option.
Posted by: Old Glory | October 10, 2009, 6:33 pm 6:33 pm
The White House innocuously joins the world’s largest Christian religion in honoring a man who literally gave his life easing the suffering of others and predictably, the wingnuts respond with a torrent of cynicism, sarcasm, and hate. Further proof, that if you open the heart of a many neo-cons you find, not a beating heart, but a financial calculator.
Posted by: B. Bear | October 10, 2009, 7:10 pm 7:10 pm
B Baer–
There may definitely be hate coming from some neo-cons, but how does your statement not further hate? Or at least add fuel to a fire you seem not want to see burning? Just a thought.
Old Glory, I’m think you misunderstood me. All I meant to do was clarify what Fr. Damien was about–a selfless servant. In now way did I mean to make a comment about how we should all become doctors, or whatever.
Try the truth, to me Obama’s comment is just a typical political comment, as in a way to take the death of a saintly man and try to make a modern application for it in a political way. You may disagree, and that’s cool. But Obama, I imagine we both agree, is the quinteseential politician (this is not necessarily all bad, though, right?).
Peace out, people.
Posted by: kelli | October 10, 2009, 10:14 pm 10:14 pm
I find this ironic.Obama and his crowd want to force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions; they want to cut off funding to hospitals that don’t perform this abomination.That is a fact.
Posted by: Nephron | October 11, 2009, 11:47 pm 11:47 pm
You better genuflect when you greet Saint Barack of Chicago.
Posted by: Obamatopia | October 13, 2009, 3:19 pm 3:19 pm