巡礼者s yearn to visit 孤立するd 半島 where カトリック教徒 saints cared for Hawaii's leprosy 患者s
KALAUPAPA, Hawaii (AP) - Kalaupapa beckoned to Kyong Son Toyofuku. She had long prayed to visit the hard-to-reach Hawaiian 半島, 罠にかける by its 深い-green, sheer sea cliffs and rugged, 黒人／ボイコット 激しく揺する shores that glisten under the 太平洋の´s pristine waters.
As a daily 集まり-going カトリック教徒 充てるd to Saint Damien of Molokai, she 手配中の，お尋ね者 to walk where he walked, pray where he prayed, and 証言，証人／目撃する for herself the place - both 素晴らしい and haunting - where the late priest spent a pivotal part of his life caring for banished people sick with leprosy.
The 巡礼の旅 to Kalaupapa, defined by its natural 孤立／分離 in northern Molokai, is logistically challenging to make under normal circumstances, with 長年の 支配するs 含むing 禁じるing anyone younger than 16 from visiting. It is even more so today because of ぐずぐず残る COVID-19 pandemic 制限s that 取り消すd all 巡礼の旅s and 小旅行するs of the 国家の historical park to 保護する the 半島´s eight remaining former 患者s. Park and 明言する／公表する health department 公式の／役人s have been 緩和 制限s and are considering when to 再開する 組織するd 巡礼の旅s and 小旅行するs.
For Toyofuku, a 一連の must-have 許可s （機の）カム together at the 権利 moment this summer and her dream （機の）カム true. At the 招待 of Kalaupapa´s priest, she retraced Father Damien´s footsteps in a place where for more than a century nearly no one 手配中の，お尋ね者 to go - and many would never leave.
Just thinking about Damien´s devotion to the sick moves her to 涙／ほころびs. "Ever y morning I pray to him," she said, crying.
Her husband, Lance Toyofuku, called all the difficulty God´s 計画（する）.
旗s blow in the 微風 at the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な of Father Damien outside St. Philomena Church on Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Damien was canonized a カトリック教徒 saint in 2009 for his work taking care of the physical and spiritual needs of leprosy 患者s in the 1800s. His 団体／死体 was moved to his home country of Belgium in 1936. Only the priest's 手渡す remains, which was reburied at the 場所／位置 in 1995. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
"Maybe the people who really want to get there will be able to go there," he said. "You don´t want a million people going there every year."
Kalaupapa, now a 避難 for those who still call the 半島 home, was once the 政府´s answer to a deadly leprosy 突発／発生 in the 1800s that 固執するd into the next century. The 病気 封じ込め（政策） 政策 軍隊d the afflicted to live out their days in the 原始の 解決／入植地 that sprang up as boat after boat dropped off people who had been uprooted from everything they´d ever known.
Missionaries, like Father Damien and Mother Marianne - who also became a カトリック教徒 saint に引き続いて her service on the island - moved to Kalaupapa to care for the new 居住（者）s´ physical and spiritual needs. The 患者s were immersed in 苦しむing from the 病気 and the 分離, said Alicia Damien Lau, one of two カトリック教徒 sisters 現在／一般に living and serving on the 半島, but the sick still 設立する happy moments and ways to 栄える.
"The 患者s were all saints in a sense," she said.
More than 8,000 people, mostly Native Hawaiians, 死なせる／死ぬd at Kalaupapa, 含むing Damien, who 結局 契約d leprosy, later called Hansen´s 病気. The ベルギー priest, born Joseph De Veuster, is credited with 徹底的に 改善するing living 条件s in the 解決／入植地. More than a century after his death in 1889, Damien´s devotion to the 病んでいる still 奮起させるs people 世界的な as does the dedication of Saint Marianne.
The Rev. Patrick Killilea, Kalaupapa´s priest and de facto 小旅行する guide, welcomed the Toyofukus in his Irish brogue after their 計画（する） touched 負かす／撃墜する on a 最近の day. They climbed into his Toyota minivan with its 事情に応じて変わる door 調印する that reads, "Fr. Pat´s 米，稲 Wagon," and 長，率いるd to one of the first stops of their day trip: Damien´s 初めの 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な .
"When you look at the surrounding areas, you could just feel the peace and spirit working in you," said Lance Toyofuku, who lives in Hawaii´s 資本／首都 city. "It´s not like 存在 in Honolulu with all the cars and all the people. It´s a place where you can get closer to God because you don´t have all those distractions."
At the end of a gravel road, Damien´s 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な 場所／位置 stands next to St. Philomena, the church the priest 拡大するd in 1876. The 国家の Park Service, which cares for Kalaupapa´s cultural and historic 資源s, 回復するd the church ahead of Damien´s 2009 canonization. His 団体／死体, moved to Belgium in 1936, is no longer there. Only a 遺物 remains - the priest´s 権利 手渡す was reburied in 1995 at the 場所／位置.
Damien´s love for Kalaupapa´s people was 無条件の, said Barbara ジーンズ Wajda of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities. She and Lau live on Kalaupapa, and helped the Toyofukus get a seat on the flight to the 半島.
"He would eat with them. He would 扱う／治療する their 負傷させるs," she said. "And it didn´t really 事柄 if they were カトリック教徒 or not. But he 手配中の，お尋ね者 them to feel that they were loved by God and cared for."
She pointed to a field beyond Damien´s ornate 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な and explained how many leprosy 患者s were buried without markers. The priest took it upon himself to build 棺s and rebury some of those 設立する in shallow 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大なs, she said.
The group also prayed at the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な of Saint Marianne. Known as the "mother of outcasts," Marianne 対処する, who was born in Germany, died at Kalaupapa in 1918 of natural 原因（となる）s and was canonized in 2012.
Marianne arrived at the 解決／入植地 several months 事前の to Damien´s death, and her dedication to caring for Kaluapapa´s people continues to 供給する 慰安 in the 直面する of 悲劇, like this summer´s 破滅的な 解雇する／砲火／射撃 on the nearby island of Maui.
Soon after the 炎 destroyed most of Sacred Hearts School, 主要な／長／主犯 Tonata Lolesio returned to the ashes of the Lahaina campus. She searched for a 12-インチ metal statue of Marianne.
A 引用する from the 修道女 served as a 目だつ message at the school: "Nothing is impossible. There are ways which lead to everything."
Lolesio never 設立する the Marianne statue, but the saint´s words help her lead the school as it continues to educate students at a 一時しのぎの物，策, 一時的な 場所／位置.
"That is the 権利 返答 to 災害," she said. "We just have to place our 約束 and 信用 in God that he will 供給する for us like he 供給するd for her."
Kalaupapa is the final 残り／休憩（する）ing place for so many, 含むing Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva´s 広大な／多数の／重要な-grandfather. Because of the ぐずぐず残る stigma of the misunderstood 病気, Silva, like many others, didn´t become aware of this piece of family history until he became an adult. When he joined pre-pandemic 巡礼の旅s, he would point out his 広大な／多数の／重要な-grandfather´s gray headstone along with Damien's and Marianne's 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大なs during the 解決／入植地 t ours.
"The story of Kalaupapa is the story of 孤立／分離 and 恐れる," said Silva, whose diocese 含むs the 半島. But that´s not the 十分な narrative, he said, "People were resilient and tried to make the best of it. And I think that´s the story of Kalaupapa, too."
A cure for Hansen´s 病気 was 設立する in the 中央の-20th century. When the 追放する was 解除するd in 1969, some former 患者s chose to remain at Kalaupapa. It´s such a breathtaking setting that Sister Wajda said, "It´s almost like a desecration to try to explain how beautiful it is."
Kalaupapa´s 静かな 深くするs at night, save for the 衝突，墜落ing of ocean waves. In the summer 空気／公表する, the glow of invasive axis deer 注目する，もくろむs pierce the 不明瞭 as throngs of them dart in between the 解決／入植地´s small, quaint houses - many of them 空いている.
In the 早期に mornings, Meli Watanuki´s 好転 トラックで運ぶ is parked in 前線 of St. Francis Church.
She chose to move to the 解決／入植地 in 1969, after her husband abandoned her and took their son with him に引き続いて her leprosy diagnosis. Now 88, she´s a 正規の／正選手 at the daily 6 a.m. 集まり along with the カトリック教徒 sisters and the 時折の health department 従業員.
Catholicism was important to her family in her native American Samoa, Watanuki 解任するd as she spoke to The Associated 圧力（をかける） 新聞記者／雑誌記者s she 招待するd to her home after 集まり. As a Hawaiian 修道士 調印（する） 残り／休憩（する）d at low tide just yards away, Watanuki explained that she didn´t learn about Damien and Marianne until moving to Kalaupapa.
"I love them so much," she said through 涙／ほころびs. "They keep me like this, make me strong."
She enjoys when people visit and when the church brings 巡礼者s, she said. "They gotta 尊敬（する）・点 this place," she said. "This place is 宗教上の place."
Bishop Silva and o ther church 公式の／役人s are eager for more people to make the Kalaupapa 巡礼の旅, or as the bishop 述べるs it, pray with their feet. Once travel 制限s are 解除するd, the diocese would be able to 再開する the trips it hosted in 共同 with 小旅行する companies owned by Kalaupapa 居住（者）s - one of the few ways the general public has been able to visit the 半島 in the past.
"I have a whole 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of people who said they´d like to go," he said. "You can really feel the sacredness of the place when you´re there."
Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, the Molokai member of the Maui 郡 会議, said many Molokai 居住（者）s are nervous about 観光旅行，事業 to Kalaupapa, which is sacred to Native Hawaiians like herself.
"For a lot of Molokai 居住（者）s ... we´re happy that Father Damien and Mother Marianne ... are getting the 承認 for the work and the sacrifices that they made," she said, but 追加するd that people also need to be "respectful of that place of 深い, 深い 悲しみ and 悲劇."
She worries what will become of the place when there are no more former 患者s living there.
The 塀で囲むs of the sisters' house, Kalaupapa´s largest dwelling, are filled with photos of the sisters who worked on the 解決／入植地 after Marianne. Lau and Wajda could be the last.
"Sister Alicia and I are committed to staying until the last 患者 leaves or dies," Wajda said. "We don´t own anything, no land or 所有物／資産／財産."
They´ve slowly been giving away the home´s 所持品.
When there are no longer any 患者s, the 明言する／公表する health department will also leave.
"And we both feel connected to the 患者s, to the land, to the saints who were here, 宣言するd and undeclared," Wajda said. "And I think that the 国家の park will be able to tell this story, but from a different 視野."
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Associated 圧力（をかける） 宗教 ニュース報道 receives support through the AP´s 共同 with The Conversation US, with 基金ing from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is 単独で 責任がある this content.
Clouds from a passing 嵐／襲撃する cover the 半島 of Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. A 巡礼の旅 to the Kalaupapa 解決／入植地 is logistically challenging since this beautiful and haunting slice of northern Molokai is defined by its natural 孤立／分離. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
While 飛行機で行くing to the Kalaupapa 半島, Sister Barbara ジーンズ Wajda of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, 権利, looks out the window over Honolulu on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. The 孤立するd 解決／入植地 was once the 政府's answer to a deadly leprosy 突発／発生 in the 1800s that 固執するd into the next century. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Lance Toyofuku prays with rosary beads while on an eight-seat 計画（する） from Honolulu to the 半島 of Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. In the 1800s, Kalaupapa was a 解決／入植地 for banished leprosy 患者s, later called Hansen's 病気. It's now a 避難 for the eight former 患者s who still call the 半島 home. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Kyong Son Toyofuku, second from left, and her husband, Lance Toyofuku, 中心, arrive at the former leprosy 植民地 of Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, with sisters and 居住（者）s of the 解決／入植地, Alicia Damien Lau, second from 権利, and Barbara ジーンズ Wajda, 権利. On short notice, Toyofuku and his wife received 許可s and an 招待 from Kalaupapa's priest to visit the place where their beloved Saint Damien, cared for leprosy 患者s. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Meli Watanuki 会談 about praying to the カトリック教徒 Saints, Father Damien and Mother Marianne, while sitting on her porch on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Kalaupapa, Hawaii. In the 1800s, the 半島 was a 解決／入植地 for banished leprosy 患者s, later called Hansen's 病気. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
The Rev. Patrick Killilea 運動s with three 訪問者s toward the cliffs of Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. 巡礼の旅s to the former leprosy 解決／入植地 are rare since the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the major 小旅行する stops 含むd Saint Damien's 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な 場所／位置, St. Philomena Church, which was 拡大するd by Damien in the 1876, and the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な of the island's second saint, Mother Marianne. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
A former animal 気圧の谷 sits 十分な of water on the 味方する of a dirt road running across Kalaupapa, H awaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. In the 1800s, Kalaupapa was a 解決／入植地 for banished leprosy 患者s, later called Hansen's 病気. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Sister Alicia Damien Lau, left, the Rev. Patrick Killilea, 中心, and Yunra Huh, pray together in the 初めの chapel of St. Philomena Church during an impromptu 集まり on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in Kalaupapa, Hawaii. The church was 拡大するd and used by Saint Damien and his parishioners in the 1800s while he lived with and cared for leprosy 患者s banished to Kalaupapa. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Necklaces, 爆撃するs and crosses hang from the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な of Father Damien outside of St. Philomena Church on Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Damien was canonized a カトリック教徒 saint in 2009 for his work taking care of the physical and spiritual needs of leprosy 患者s in the 1800s. His 団体／死体 was moved to his home country of Belgium in 1936. Only the priest's 手渡す remains, which was reburied at the 場所／位置 in 1995. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
CORRECTS RELATIONSHIP OF HUH TO GODDAUGHTER INTEAD OF NIECE - Kyong Son Toyofuku, left, her goddaughter Yunra Huh, 中心, and husband, Lance Toyofuku, 権利, walk into St. Philomena Church during a 小旅行する of Kalaupapa, Hawaii, Tuesday, July 18, 2023. The church was 拡大するd and used by St. Damien and his parishioners in the 1800s while he lived with and cared for leprosy 患者s banished to Kalaupapa. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Yunra Huh, takes a photo of her family at the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な of Saint Marianne in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Huh made a 巡礼の旅 to the remote 半島 where カトリック教徒 missionaries known as Father Damien and Mother Marianne cared for banished leprosy 患者s in the 1800s. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
A cat walks across the 支援する of the Rev. Patrick Killilea's couch on Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Photographs of Saint Damien, Saint Marianne and St. Philomena Church line the 塀で囲む of Killilea's home on the 半島. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
The Rev. Patrick Killilea stands over a （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する in his home on the 半島 of Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. In the 1800s, Kalaupapa was a settlem ent for banished leprosy 患者s, later called Hansen's 病気. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Sister Barbara ジーンズ Wajda looks out toward the field of unmarked 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大なs next to St. Philomena Church on Kalaupapa, Hawaii on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. More than 8,000 people, mostly Native Hawaiians, 死なせる／死ぬd at Kalaupapa, 含むing Saint Damien who 結局 契約d leprosy, later called Hansen's 病気. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
From left, Lance Toyofuku, Sister Alicia Damien Lau, the Rev. Patrick Killilea, and the Rev. Stephen Cotter, 準備する for an impromptu 集まり held at St. Philomena Church on Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Banishing the sick to the 孤立するd Kalaupapa 解決／入植地 was once the 政府's answer to a deadly leprosy 突発／発生 in the 1800s that 固執するd into the next century. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Barbara ジーンズ Wajda of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities 持つ／拘留するs a jar of 扱う／治療するs for a cat on the 半島 of Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. There have been １０年間s of sisters who lived and served in the 解決／入植地 since the late 1800s caring for leprosy 患者s. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Lance Toyofuku, left, 会談 with sisters Alicia Damien Lau, 中心, and Barbara ジーンズ Wajda, 権利, after 集まり at St. Philomena Church during a 巡礼の旅 小旅行する of Kalaupapa, Hawaii on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. The church was 拡大するd and used by St. Damien and his parishioners in the 1800s while he lived with and cared for leprosy 患者s banished to Kalaupapa. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Kyong Son Toyofuku, left, her husband, Lance Toyofuku, 中心, and sister Alicia Damien Lau, celebrate 集まり at St. Philomena Church during a 巡礼の旅 小旅行する of Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. The church was 拡大するd and used by St. Damien and his parishioners in the 1800s while he lived with and cared for leprosy 患者s banished to Kalaupapa. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Sister Alicia Damien Lau, left, Meli Watanuki, stand to pray during 集まり on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Kalaupapa, Hawaii. In the 1800s, Kalaupapa was a 解決／入植地 for banished leprosy 患者s, later called Hansen's 病気. It's now a 避難 for the eight former 患者s, 含むing Watanuki. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
The 記念の of the Rev. Maxim Andre of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts, on the 半島 of Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
The Rev. Patrick Killilea gives communion to Meli Watanuki, at 集まり on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Kalaupapa, Hawaii. In the 1800s, the 半島 was a 解決／入植地 for banished leprosy 患者s, later called Hansen's 病気. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
A path 主要な to the cliffs of Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. Banishing the sick to the 孤立するd Kalaupapa s ettlement was once the 政府's answer to a deadly leprosy 突発／発生 in the 1800s that 固執するd into the next century. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Sister Barbara ジーンズ Wajda, left, and Sister Alicia Damien Lau wave goodbye to their guests, who were 許すd a rare 地位，任命する COVID-19 pandemic 巡礼の旅 to Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
The Rev. Patrick Killilea walks toward cliffs of Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Banishing the sick to the 孤立するd Kalaupapa 解決／入植地 was once the 政府's answer to a deadly leprosy 突発／発生 in the 1800s that 固執するd into the next century. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
FILE - A tapestry 描写するing Father Damien, born as Joseph De Veuster, hanging from the St. Peter Basilica facade during a canonization 儀式 in St. Peter's square at the Vatican, Oct. 11, 2009. Damien has long been a saint to the people of Hawaii for caring for 追放するd leprosy 患者s in the 中央の-1800s on the Kalaupapa 半島 on the island of Molokai when no one else would, and then 契約ing and dying of the disfiguring 病気 himself. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, とじ込み／提出する)
FILE - A circa 1870's photo of Mother Marianne 対処する. The Franciscan 修道女 is kno wn for her work in Hawaii to help lepers. (AP Photo/Courtesey of Sisters of St. Francis, とじ込み／提出する)
