Posted on 10/11/2009 2:06:58 PM PDT by Steelfish
Priest Who Lived With Leprosy Now A Saint Pope Benedict praises Father Damien, who died from leprosy in 1889
Audrey Toguchi, 80, from Hawaii, at right, with her doctor Walter Chang, looks on during a canonization ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Sunday.
VATICAN CITY - A 19th-century priest whose courageous work with leprosy patients in Hawaii has been likened to the efforts of those battling the stigma of AIDS was elevated to sainthood Sunday by Pope Benedict XVI, along with four other Catholics he hailed as heroes of holiness.
Among the 10,000 pilgrims packing St. Peter's Basilica was Hawaii resident Audrey Toguchi, an 80-year-old retired school teacher whose recovery from lung cancer a decade ago stunned her doctor and was ruled a miracle by the Vatican.
Toguchi has credited her survival to praying to Belgium-born Jozef De Veuster, also known as Father Damien, who himself died from leprosy in 1889 after contracting the disease while working with ostracized patients living on Molokai island.
Some 40,000 faithful who couldn't fit inside the vast church filled St. Peter's Square on a warm, sunny morning. Many women from Hawaii wore headpieces made of roses and large beaded necklaces over floral-print loose gowns.
Among the five Benedict added to the church's roll call of saints is French nun Jeanne Jugan, who helped the elderly, including some abandoned by their families. Jugan, also known as Marie de la Croix, was "an authentic Mother Teresa ahead of her time," Vatican Radio said. Her Little Sisters of the Poor order of nuns today runs homes for impoverished old people worldwide. She died in 1879.
‘The heroism of sanctity’ Toguchi and her doctor, Walter Chang, joined in one basilica procession, and two leprosy patients participated in another.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Great. Fr. Damien certainly deserves it. A remarkable man.
None of the four Gospels says you have to be a Catholic to be a saint. Of course, the Christians somehow got along without a “pope” for three hundred years - maybe that’s why.
“Great. Fr. Damien certainly deserves it. A remarkable man.”
Um - - - he won’t even be aware of it.
Sainthood well deserved. Fr. Damien lived it and paid the price.
I wonder what took God so long? The guy’s been dead for years and years.
Correct regarding the first part of your statement; and given that the Catholic Church collected and edited the original writings of the four Gospels, it was objective of them not to do so. The Catholic Church considers Peter the Apostle, the first Pope and then the succession throughout the history of Christendom to the current Pope. I suppose if you had asked Peter (Simon) if he was a Christian, or any of the other Apostles for that matter, they would have considered themselves Jews who believed that Christ was the Messiah (Messianic Jews.) The term Christian didn’t arrive until later, from what I’ve read but am willing to understand otherwise.
Acts 11:26 bump for later.
Uh . . . You think?
The Church teaches that there are many unrecognized saints. This is just an official confirmation. It doesn’t mean that he is a saint today but wasn’t one yesterday.
I wonder if my high school will add St. to its name?
That’s a poor misread of history. Peter was the first Pope and we have an unbroken line of apostolic succession. If only you’d do some basic research. The Catholic Church does no more than confirm for us here on earth a person who is already a saint in heaven through one of the most rigorous processes for such a confirmation. This is why it takes tens of years.
The rest of your post qualifies as revisionist history.
The Catholic version of history.
Thanks for posting. There is a very interesting statue at our nation’s Capitol of Father Damien (duplicate at the State House in Hawaii). A true Saint on earth.
The priests and religious who worked on Molokai are all blessed.
http://www.hawaiicatholicherald.org/BlessedDamien/tabid/311/newsid916/1567/Default.aspx
As compared to your version which is nearly two millenia removed from events.
Priest Who Aided Lepers In Hawaii To Become Saint
"Lepers' Apostle" to Be Declared a Saint
Finally, It's Official: Molokai's Hero = Hawaii's Saint
A Parish of Lepers [Bl. Damien Joseph de Veuster of Molokai]
Bld. Damien Joseph de Veuster of Molokai
The Vatican does a detailed study of these cases. That’s what takes so long.
Probably.
That is history according to people who have a vested interest in the history.
And what then is the “non-vested’ history of an institution that has been studied by historians for 2000 years and embraced by scholars, philosophers. atheists, scientists, converts, agnostics and CardinaL HENRY NEWMAN -of the Oxford Movement and former Church of England. Some “vesting” you might say.
I know what the catholic church teaches.
“None of the four Gospels, or any of the 69 other books of Sacred Scripture, contain the word Bible. So why do you read it?
The rest of your post qualifies as revisionist history.”
Nope. The “revision” is the other way around. The Catholic machine has re-written history to make the whore look Christian.
Bible means “book”. That it isn’t used that way in scripture is no excuse for the Catholic religion loading people up with the traditions of men when they ought to be following the law of God.
“I wonder what took God so long?”
What does that mean???
“Correct regarding the first part of your statement; and given that the Catholic Church collected and edited the original writings of the four Gospels, it was objective of them not to do so. The Catholic Church considers Peter the Apostle, the first Pope and then the succession throughout the history of Christendom to the current Pope. I suppose if you had asked Peter (Simon) if he was a Christian, or any of the other Apostles for that matter, they would have considered themselves Jews who believed that Christ was the Messiah (Messianic Jews.) The term Christian didn’t arrive until later, from what I’ve read but am willing to understand otherwise.”
The Bible was passed by non-Catholic Christians, driven by persecution, from Jerusalem to Antioch to what is now Bulgaria and from thence across Southern Europe. It’s called the majority or received text. Subsequent archaelogical finds have all confirmed its accuracy.
At that time the Vatican was busy forcing Ambrose to collate two error-ridden Alexandrian manuscripts and translate them into Latin, against his better judgement. From this emerged the Vulgate and subsequent Catholic versions.
Yeah - the term “Christian” probably came along later than the apostles. And, yes, most the earliest Christians were Jews and met in synagogues, the models for the ensuing “churches”.
“That’s a poor misread of history. Peter was the first Pope and we have an unbroken line of apostolic succession. If only you’d do some basic research. The Catholic Church does no more than confirm for us here on earth a person who is already a saint in heaven through one of the most rigorous processes for such a confirmation. This is why it takes tens of years.”
Pete never even went to Rome, and if you’d “do some basic research” you’d find that the succession doesn’t exist - it’s been shattered by such breaks as dual Popes, a suspected female pope, and frequent revisions of the lists of early Bishops of Rome by the Catholic hierarchy.
In fact, letting one pope die before ever selecting a replacement invalidates the concept of “succession”. Every pope’s death is a complete break from the “line”. If there were a genuine succession, the living Pope would lay hands on his choice for a successor.
Finally, for the first two centuries the Bishop of Rome had no supremacy over the Bishops of other cities. The pre-Catholic Christians got along fine without a “pope.
Cool. I attended when it was called Pomona Catholic Boys HS. I hear Fr. Travers is still there.
That's just an eye-blink in the infinite reign of God.
.... and the ACLU hasn't ordered it torn down yet. Why not?
She should have been praying to God, not some diseased guy.
Had his English class when he was a rookie. We called him Cyclops. Unibrow, drooled when he spoke. has a speech impediment. Of course, we were all so cool. He’s a real survivor and I think is a good principal. Freepmail to you.
seems to have worked ne ce pas?
She may have lived to 110 if she hadn’t prayed to disease-boy.
She's still alive today.
Obama would have been a better choice
Aren't we warned against such?
LOL, excellent point!
Spineless from the start, sucked into the part
circus comes to town, you play the lead clown
Please, please
spreading his disease, living by his story
Knees, knees
falling to your knees, suffer for his glory
You will
- "Leper Messiah", Metallica
Sainthood is not based solely on what you did during your time on Earth.
My guess is that she was asking that Father Damien pray for her, that is different than praying to him. (Yes, I realize this is not what the article says, but the AP is certainly not pro-Catholic and it does not actually quote her as saying she prayed to Father Damien.)
Yoda & the Lion King too, but that's a topic for another day.
Actually, it wasn't a point at all.
OK, stipulated. It certainly implies that she says she prayed to him.
Toguchi has credited her survival to praying to Belgium-born Jozef De Veuster
Personally, if I felt compelled to pray to a non-deity I'd pick a healthier one.
It flatly states that she did, though this doesn't mean that she said this.
Personally, if I felt compelled to pray to a non-deity I'd pick a healthier one.
I have no doubt that you would, but why?
This guy died in the late 1800's. At that time much was known about contagion.
He handled lepers, got leprosy and died.
Not too bright I'd say. Patron Saint of poor choices perhaps?
Jesus Christ ministered to the lepers as well, are you suggesting that He was unaware that leprosy was contagious?
Not too bright I'd say. Patron Saint of poor choices perhaps?
I assume you would consider cowardice the wisest of choices?
He had the advantage of being Jesus Christ. I doubt any mortal disease could bring Him down. Don't you think so?
I assume you would consider cowardice the wisest of choices?
There you go, injecting the nastiness into a neutral discussion.
I would consider it wise not to immerse one's self into a contagious disease.
Go french kiss an AIDS victim and tell me you are wise.
Yoda & the Lion King too, but that's a topic for another day.
Let's not exclude Black Sabbath lyrics from the Hidden Significance Olympics, either. Don't even get me started on the unmitigated brilliance of The Simpsons.
OK, back to the subject of the thread...
So you doubt that He was fully man? I don't think a disease would bring Him down, but I think it could.
I would consider it wise not to immerse one's self into a contagious disease.
Okay, you would consider your personal well-being ahead of those who needed to hear the Gospel.
Go french kiss an AIDS victim and tell me you are wise.
There is a difference between unnecessary risk and ministry.
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