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Father Damien

Apostle to the Lepers

MacNiven-Johnston, Glynn

Life of the famous “apostle to the lepers”

'I make myself a leper with the lepers'
At 23, Damien de Veuster left everything to work among the lepers of Hawaii. He died there of leprosy at only 45. He was a Mother Teresa of his time, often isolated, and was practically a household name when he died in 1889. Social reformer, courageous, resourceful, obstinate. at times unpopular - certainly. Yet Fr Damien became a leper for the lepers, rejected for the rejected, like Christ himself - rare in a world that wants to eliminate suffering and make everything clean, perfect and beautiful. His life, like the Gospel itself, continues to radically challenge and inspire.