The Rev. Emilio Vega Garcia arrived earlier this month as the Diocese of Honolulu convened a tribunal on the miraculous cure being put forward for Damien's sainthood. Proof of one miracle is needed for a candidate to be beatified, and a second is needed for sainthood. Damien is the first person with Hawai'i ties to be beatified; Mother Marianne Cope, another Kalaupapa missionary, is expected to earn the honor by the end of the year.

Garcia is postulator general with the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the order Damien belonged to during his life.

The miracle under discussion involves the spontaneous regression of a cancerous tumor in an O'ahu woman who prayed for intercession from Father Damien.

Rome received more letters from the woman in which she mentioned Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome then questioned whether she had sought another's intercession, as well. That led to a delay in the case.

There will be 10 witnesses interviewed, some old and some new, said the Very Rev. Joseph Grimaldi, who heads up tribunal and canonical affairs for the diocese. They will not be re-investigating the miracle itself, which has been documented.

"The miracle is not in question," said Grimaldi. "What is in question is the object of prayer."

He explained that Catholics pray to saints for intercession from God; the saints themselves are not God: "Technically, they act as intercessors."

Once the 10 witnesses are interviewed by the tribunal, which is made up of two priests and the diocesan chancellor, documents will be gathered and sealed, then given to postulator Garcia to take back to Rome, Grimaldi said.

Grimaldi believed the woman's case will be a good one: There's a priest who was with the woman during her diagnosis who can attest to her praying to Damien, and she has a connection with Kalaupapa, since several of her relatives are buried on Moloka'i.

"It's logical that there would be prayers to Father Damien," Grimaldi said.

If all doesn't go well, if the case is thrown out, those seeking sainthood for Damien would have to start over with another miracle, which is not an easy thing to prove. Asked if there were any other miracles in the process of being documented for Damien's sainthood, Grimaldi answered, "Not that I know of."

If all goes well and the object of prayer is proven to be Damien, when will the sainthood case be back on track? That may be a question for a higher power.

"You don't push Rome," Grimaldi said. "Their idea of time is not the same as ours."