Priest who lived with leprosy now a saint / LJWorld.com

Archive for Monday, October 12, 2009

Associated Press

October 12, 2009

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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.

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. Also becoming a saint was Zygmunt Szcezesny Felinski, a 19th-century Polish bishop.

Two Spaniards, Francisco Coll y Guitart, who founded an order of Dominicans in the 19th century, and Rafael Arniaz Baron, who renounced an affluent life at age 22 to live humbly in a strict monastery in the last century, also were raised to sainthood.

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Priest who aided lepers in Hawaii to become saint February 22, 2009
Two men, two women to be canonized Oct. 15 July 2, 2006
Pope names four new saints he hopes will inspire Catholics October 16, 2006
Pope denounces anti-Christian violence October 13, 2008
Pope puts John Paul on track for sainthood May 14, 2005

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