Father Damien de Veuster’s original gravesite and the grave of layperson Joseph Dutton are located next to St. Philomena Church in Kalawao, seen in a photo taken earlier this year. (Photo by Mackenzy Raco)
By Celia K. Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Kalaupapa was in the spotlight this month amid a flurry of activity centered around pending and proposed visits to the remote peninsula on Molokai.
On Sept. 8, state and national agencies announced the return of public tours in Kalaupapa, which were shut down five years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The site of Hawaii’s settlement for Hansen’s disease (also known as leprosy) patients — where Father Damien de Veuster and Mother Marianne Cope ministered to residents who were forcibly isolated from their families due to the disease, which is now curable — is overseen by the state Department of Health and has been a national historical park under the National Park Service since 1980. The agencies had previously worked with patient-residents to bring visitors to Kalaupapa to experience its history and legacy.
One of those residents, Meli Watanuki, operated a tour company before the pandemic and is spearheading the new initiative, called Kalaupapa Saints Tours.
“I wanted to create something that not only shares the history, but also honors the people who lived it,” Watanuki said in a press release issued Sept. 8 by NPS. “This is my home, my story and my gift to future generations.”
Visitors on the tour will see where St. Damien and St. Marianne worked (they were canonized in 2009 and 2012, respectively); visit historic landmarks such as churches and cemeteries; and learn about the resilience of the people who lived there and the strong community that still exists today.
Sister Alicia Damien Lau of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, who works in Kalaupapa, told the Hawaii Catholic Herald that many hands contributed to the resumption of public tours — from reviewing and obtaining the necessary documents, to ensuring tour driver compliance, to determining the tour route, to “helping to write the script to tell the story of 8,000 kupuna who were sent to Kalawao and Kalaupapa.”
“Aunty Meli’s life and love for St. Damien and St. Marianne has been alive since she came over 60 years ago,” Sister Lau said. “She loves to talk about both Father Damien and Mother Marianne. She always says that ‘Yes, they are both saints, but they will always be Mother and Father to me.’”
Another key player in the tours is Seawind Tours and Travel, led by founder and CEO Randy King. The company previously coordinated travel for the saints’ beatifications and canonizations and will do the same for the Kalaupapa Saints Tour.
A media tour was planned for Sept. 18 ahead of the official launch of public tours at the end of the month.
“Kalaupapa is a very sacred place, and I hope many people will be able to visit for a pilgrimage to be inspired by St. Damien, St. Marianne, Joseph Dutton and others who brought Christ’s light to the darkness,” Bishop Larry Silva told the Herald.
(Dutton, another candidate for sainthood, was a layperson who served the people of Kalaupapa for more than 40 years.)
Kalaupapa is only accessible via small plane, and tours are limited to visitors ages 16 and older. For more information about the Kalaupapa Saints Tour, including the cost and upcoming dates, visit www.seawindtours.com/kalaupapa/saintstour. (The tours are sold out, but more are being planned.)
Governor’s papal encounter
Kalaupapa was also among the topics of discussion Sept. 3 when Gov. Josh Green met Pope Leo XIV in Rome, during the pontiff’s regular Wednesday general audience.
According to Green’s office, the governor extended an invitation to Pope Leo to visit Hawaii in 2027 for the 200th anniversary of the arrival of Catholicism in the islands (echoing an invitation sent earlier by Bishop Silva), including a trip to Kalaupapa.
Bishop Silva told the Herald that he assisted the governor’s office with the letter that Green gave to Pope Leo inviting him to Kalaupapa.
The governor’s office also got an assist from the two Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities who work in Kalaupapa, continuing St. Marianne’s legacy of care in the settlement.
Sister Lau and Sister Barbara Jean Wajda gathered educational materials and mementos reflecting the history and spirit of Kalaupapa, packing an attache bag that was delivered to the governor’s office to be taken to Rome.
The Franciscan sisters described the contents of the bag to the Herald. It included: books and pamphlets on St. Damien, St. Marianne and Dutton; accounts of events that happened in Kalaupapa; a testimonial of an eighth grader’s answered prayer for healing to St. Marianne; a Mass card containing relic cards that bore soil from St. Marianne’s gravesite; and a bag of sea salt from Kalaupapa collected along the peninsula’s north shore, along with an explanation of how it was collected.
Sisters Lau and Wajda said they worked with Benedictine Sister Celeste “CC” Cabral to get the attache to Green.
The Franciscan sisters said they “were excited to have been asked” to provide the materials, and that they hope Pope Leo does consider visiting Kalaupapa in 2027.