163rd Anniversary of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace

Thank you Easter for reminding us of the 163rd anniversary of our cathedral tomorrow, August 16th.

"The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, located at the north end of Fort Street Mall in downtown Honolulu, is said to be the oldest Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States and one of the oldest existing buildings in the downtown area. It is dedicated under the patronage of Our Lady of Peace because the first Catholic missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands, members of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary gave that title to their first foundation in a new land. The Cathedral stands on land which was given to the missionaries by King Kamehameha III (Kauikeaouli) when the mission was established in 1827. "...

"The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace is the site of the ordination to the priesthood of Blessed Damien deVeuster, ss.cc. on May 21, 1864. Blessed Damien is world-famous for his work with lepers on the Kalaupapa peninsula, Molokai. He himself died of Hansen's disease (leprosy) on April 15, 1889. He was declared Blessed by Pope John Paul II in Brussells, Belgium in 1995. His feast day is celebrated on May 10, the day of his arrival on the Kalaupapa peninsula. Blessed Damien's statue stands in front of the State Capitol in Honolulu and also in the Capitol of the United States in Washington, D.C. where each state is allowed to have two people who were significant in the history of the state honored. The other statue is that of King Kamehameha the Great... "(Click title above for the complete history)