VATICAN CITY (RNS) The unofficial patron saint of those with HIV/AIDS will be proclaimed a saint on Oct. 11 at a ceremony in Rome.
The Vatican announced the canonization of the Rev. Damien de Veuster on Saturday (Feb. 21).
A Belgian priest known as “Father Damien,” he spent more than 15 years caring for lepers on the island of Molokai, Hawaii, and died there of leprosy in 1889.
Pope John Paul II declared Damien “Blessed” in 1995, after recognizing as miraculous the cure of a French nun who had prayed to the late priest only a few years after his death. A second miracle, occurring after beatification, was required for his canonization as a saint.
Last year, Pope Benedict XVI recognized as miraculous a Hawaiian woman’s recovery from lung cancer after she prayed for Damien’s intercession. The case was the subject of an article in the Hawaii Medical Journal in 2000.
Statues of Damien, who is also considered the patron saint of Hawaii, stand in both the U.S. Capitol in Washington and the Hawaii State Capitol in Honolulu.