Ghent - Sint-Niklaaskerk

To my big surprise I found this statue of Father Damian inside Sint-Niklaaskerk. I had come across this name, when I followed a story on Oahu some decades ago - and had ended in Kalaupapa, a peninsula of Molokai.

Father Damien (aka "Saint Damien of Molokai") was born in 1840 as Jef de Veuster in Tremelo, about 80kms east of Ghent. From 1864 on, he worked as a missionary on Hawaiʻi (aka "Big Island").

During that time, under the reign of Kamehameha V., the last Hawaiian King, people suffering from leprosy, believed to be incurable, were brought to Molokai, where they were isolated on Kaulapapa, a peninsula that could only be reached from the sea. Upto 1200 persons lived here in total isolation and without any medical care, as leprosy was believed to be highly infective.

After Father Damien had learned about that situation, he decided to settle in the leprosy colony, what he did in 1873. He erected a church on Kalaupapa and cared for his suffering parishioners. After 16 years in the leper colony, Father Damien died of leprosy in 1889. He was canonized in 2009.