The paper wrapping of the Father Damien Way street sign at the corner of 33rd Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan falls away during the sign’s unveiling May 11. The minister-president of the Government of Flanders Geert Bourgeois and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, admire the new Father Damien Way street sign. Cardinal Dolan addresses onlookers. Clarence “Boogie” and Ivy Kalihihiwa are interviewed by Belgian television. (Photos via VRT Belgian Television)
NEW YORK — At 1:30 p.m. on May 11 at the busy corner of 33rd Street and 2nd Avenue in Manhattan, Cardinal Timothy Dolan tugged on a string to pull away the paper wrapped around a green street sign above him, revealing the words “Father Damien Way.” The 150 onlookers cheered.
The renaming of a 750-foot stretch of East 33rd Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues is New York City’s salute to the world-renowned Flemish missionary priest and saint who gave his life for Hawaii’s Hansen’s disease patients 125 years ago.
“This is a great day for New York, this is a great day for Belgium, this is a great day for the church who is so proud to claim St. Damien,” said the cardinal who wore a white and purple orchid lei and a flat-brimmed straw hat like the one Father Damien wore in his life portrait painted by Edward Clifford.
The minister-president of the Government of Flanders Geert Bourgeois and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, admire the new Father Damien Way street sign. (Photos via VRT Belgian Television)
Clarence “Boogie” and Ivy Kalihihiwa are interviewed by Belgian television. (Photos via VRT Belgian Television)
Cardinal Dolan addresses onlookers. (Photos via VRT Belgian Television)
“Today we have a street named after him in New York and all I can say is ‘Alleluia! Thanks be to God and thanks to all the great people who made this happen,’” Cardinal Dolan said.
Among the dignitaries at the unveiling were the minister-president of the Government of Flanders Geert Bourgeois, Clarence “Boogie” and Ivy Kahilihiwa of Kalaupapa, New York City officials, and representatives from the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts and the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities.
In an interview on the street by Belgian television, Hansen’s disease patient Kahilihiwa said that Damien “had leprosy too so I know what he went through. You talk about suffering, I know how he felt. Everywhere you walk on Kalaupapa, you know you are with Damien.”
Those attending the unveiling marched half-way down Father Damien Way for a prayer service in the Chapel of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, which shares the name of Father Damien’s religious order.
There the cardinal recalled the Gospel story of Jesus healing the men with leprosy and telling the newly cured to “show yourself to a priest.”
“That priest, the answer to their prayer,” Cardinal Dolan said, “was Father Damien.”
Flemish minister-president Geert Bourgeois greeted the congregation with “Aloha!”
“Father Damien’s legacy of faith, of compassion and dedication for the most vulnerable among us is an inspiration to us all,” he said. “He was a priest and a healer, a community leader and an early human rights activist, a catalyst for the current movement to eradicate neglected, infectious diseases.”
Kahilihiwa, addressing the chapel gathering, said “My wife Ivy and myself feel so grateful and humble to be here to celebrate this great occasion. We are here to represent our ohana back in Kalaupapa. We represent the number who have passed, which is about 8,000. We call this the land of St. Damien and St. Marianne.”
The small chapel was filled with men in Roman collars and business suits, visitors in aloha shirts, a row of Missionaries of Charity in Mother Teresa’s familiar blue and white saris, and others.
Some wore leis brought by the island visitors.
Besides the Kahilihiwas, the Hawaii delegation included Franciscan Sister Alicia Damien Lau, Franciscan Sister Cheryl Wint, Sacred Hearts Father Lane Akiona, Sacred Hearts Father William Petrie, Maui artist Philip Sabado and his wife Christine, Hawaii Sen. Kalani English, Ed Lane of Seawind Tours and Travel, and family members, friends and well-wishers of Kalaupapa patients.
Sister Roberta Smith and Sister Louise Alff, leadership representatives of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, and Kristen Barrett-Anderson from the St. Marianne Cope Shrine and Museum also attended.
That night, a formal dinner at the Metropolitan Club brought together nearly 300 people from the City of New York, Hawaii, Belgium, the New York Archdiocese, educators, healthcare, infectious disease experts and others. Maui sculptor Dale Zarrella presented Minister President Bourgeois and Cardinal Dolan with a statue of St. Damien.
On another evening, Patty Danko and the Gracious Ladies, a New York City hula troupe, provided the Hawaii delegation with delicious food, Hawaiian entertainment and a performance by actor Vinnie Linares of Maui of Aldyth Morris’ play “Damien.”
The New York City visit was a first for Boogie and Ivy Kahilihiwa. They spent the next two days taking in Manhattan, the Rockefeller Center, the Statue of Liberty, the Ground Zero Memorial and Museum, and a performance of the delightfully nostalgic “Jersey Boys” at the August Wilson Theater.
St. Damien Way is in the Murray Hill area of Manhattan near three major hospitals. The site was chosen because one of them, Bellevue Hospital Center, is one of the few East Coast medical facilities specializing in the treatment of leprosy. The Chapel of Sacred Hearts serves as a quiet meditation place for nearby medical staff, patients and visitors.
