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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, February 7, 2009

Damien getting penciled in

By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion & Ethics Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Father Damien

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What will the date be? Check out the Countdown to St. Damien blog at http://countdowntostdamien.honadvblogs.com.

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Now we know when we'll know the date of Father Damien's canonization.

The Sacred Hearts priest who served Hansen's disease patients at Kalaupapa is expected to be made Hawai'i's first saint sometime this fall, most likely in October.

Bishop Larry Silva received a partial copy of Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming liturgical calendar, which includes this entry: "Saturday, Feb. 21 at 11 a.m. in the Clementine Hall, consistory for certain causes of canonization."

That would be 11 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20, Hawai'i time.

"It is assumed that this will be the day that Father Damien's canonization date will be announced," Diocese of Honolulu spokesman Patrick Downes wrote in an e-mail, cautioning: "This is not the day of canonization."

Others are likely to be canonized at the same time.

Damien was beatified in 1995.

A Mass of Thanksgiving is planned for noon Feb. 21 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.