Father Damien volunteered to help patients with Hansen’s disease who were sent to Kalawao to live in isolation. Damien arrived in Kalawao in 1873, and after just two days, he volunteered to become the first resident priest.
At that time, church services were held in a modest wooden building constructed the prior year by Brother Victorin Bertrand. Dasmien enlisted the help of some patient volunteers to improve the small wooden chapel and within four years they expanded the church and added a bell tower.
Unfortunately, in 1888, a storm damaged the steeple. However, with the help of Brother Joseph Dutton, the congregation repaired and further expanded the church into the St. Philomena’s Church that remains today.
Sadly, Father Damien died in 1889 just months before the church was completed.
