Almost immediately after Father Damien's death 120 years ago, people around the globe were calling for his elevation to sainthood.

Yesterday, 351 Hawai'i residents — some of whom were integral to Damien's canonization cause — left for Belgium for the culmination of more than a century of work to honor the priest with the title "saint." They will spend four days in Damien's home country, visiting his birthplace and his tomb, as part of a pilgrimage that will end with Damien's canonization in St. Peter's Square on Oct. 11.

The group is among hundreds more Hawai'i residents traveling to Rome for the canonization.

Those on the pilgrimage include 11 Hansen's disease patients from Kalaupapa, Moloka'i, and Audrey Toguchi, the 'Aiea woman whose cure from an aggressive form of cancer after praying to Damien 11 years ago was the second miracle attributed to the Sacred Hearts priest, assuring his sainthood. Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva also will be on the trip, and will celebrate Masses with the group.

At Honolulu International Airport last night, there was plenty of excitement among those on the pilgrimage.

"It's finally happened!" said patient Pauline Chow, 75. "We're on our way."

But some also said the departure is bittersweet.

"I'm thinking about the people who didn't make it," said Clarence "Boogie" Kahilihiwa, 68, a Kalaupapa resident. Three well-known patients have died recently: Richard Marks, a patient advocate and successful businessman, died in December, and advocates Bernard Punikai'a and Ku'ulei Bell both died in February. "Hopefully, where we go, they'll be there in spirit," Kahilihiwa said.

Nicole Carroll, patient Gloria Marks' granddaughter, said she still can't believe she's heading to Belgium and Italy.

"I'm just really excited to be a part of this," she said. "I'm really excited to be living through this piece of history."

For many, Damien's canonization is long overdue.

Some have waited a lifetime to see Father Damien become "Saint Damien."

But others say the process illustrates the meticulous work required by the Roman Catholic Church for canonization.

And, they say, Damien passed the test.

"It is God's time," said the Rev. Herman Gomes, pastor at St. Ann's Church in Kane'ohe, who will attend the canonization.

EXACTING PROCESS

Since 1994, Gomes has been giving talks around the Islands on Father Damien. He instructs church and school groups on the protocols involved in the canonization process, while also talking to them about Damien's life and the horrors he faced at the Hansen's disease settlement in Kalaupapa.

Gomes said he suspects that part of the reason Damien's canonization took so long was because of an early controversy surrounding Damien, which erupted shortly after his death when a Protestant minister in Hawai'i questioned newspaper accounts lauding the priest and accused him of having "relations with women" and "vices and carelessness."

In a now-famous rebuttal, author Robert Louis Stevenson defended Damien.

Father Damien's formal cause for canonization was introduced in 1955.

He was beatified — or honored with the title "blessed" — 40 years later.

The Vatican spent 14 more years investigating Damien's cause before announcing in February that he would be canonized.

"One of the reasons it took so long is the church is very careful when it comes to the process," said Sacred Hearts Sister Helene Wood, who was the vice-postulator for Damien's cause. "The church takes a good deal of time investigating the life of the candidate to see that they have truly lived according to the tenets of the church. The person declared a saint needs to be an example of holiness."

Wood was involved in the tribunal that investigated Toguchi's cure from cancer.

She said she remembers learning about Father Damien as a student at Sacred Hearts Academy, from which she graduated in 1959.

Wood added that Damien's appeal to so many is his simple message of caring and compassion.

"Father Damien was a very down-to-earth person," she said. "He wanted to help people. That was the main reason that he had come to the Islands."

FINALLY HAPPENING

Damien showed immense courage in going to Kalaupapa — and staying, despite the suffering and death he saw there, Wood said. "Just his perseverance in a situation like that is certainly worthy of some kind of honor," she said.

Wood and eight other Sacred Hearts sisters from Hawai'i are headed to the canonization. She said the crowd at the ceremony will include hundreds of Sacred Hearts congregation members from around the world.

Pope Benedict XVI will elevate Damien to sainthood along with four others on Oct. 11.

Damien will be Hawai'i's first saint and the ninth person who has earned the honor for good works on what is now American soil.

Deacon Wallace Mitsui, the coordinator of events surrounding the canonization who serves at St. John's Apostle and Evangelist Church in Mililani, said he was drawn to find out more about Damien after converting to Catholicism in his 20s. Mitsui, 67, added Damien's canonization was "far away, thinking it might never happen."

Mitsui is on the pilgrimage that left yesterday, and he said the group is a mix of Catholics and non-Catholics. That highlights how Damien's story has touched so many, he said, regardless of their faith.

Of Damien's canonization, he added, "I never thought in my own lifetime it would happen. It's just really a blessing."

Advertiser Staff writer Mary Vorsino will be following 11 Hansen's disease patients from Kalaupapa and hundreds of other Hawai'i residents as they travel to Father Damien's birthplace in Belgium before heading to Rome for the canonization on Oct. 11 of Hawai'i's first saint.