Nine Boy Scouts from Oahu — designated the St. Damien Troop by the Aloha Council — will be in Rome to witness the canonization of Blessed Damien de Veuster, the Catholic priest who ministered to Hansen’s disease patients exiled to Kalawao.

Before the Oct. 11 ceremony at the Vatican, the troop will spend five days in Belgium visiting Damien’s birthplace in Tremelo. They will then travel by rail via Paris to Rome, where they will attend an audience with Pope Benedict XVI, stay in a monastery and attend the welcoming ceremony for travelers from Hawaii.
The nine scouts, who were chosen on the basis of exemplary character, will be accompanied by four chaperons. The scouts are: Alex Henderson, Riggs Brown, Zachary Baysa, Zachary Fielding, Royce Masuda, Brad Fredericks, Nick Huff, Chris Nishijima and Patrick Alvior
In preparation for the trip, they have been studying Italian, Dutch, journalism, photography, cinematography, video editing and Belgian and Italian customs.
They will document their experiences and share them with students in Hawaii by blogging and posting photos and videos on Facebook, YouTube, WordPress and Skype.
Schools or individuals wishing to follow their travels on Facebook should add “Damien de Veuster” to their friends list. for YouTube videos, it will be necessary to subscribe to “Saintdamienscouts.” The blogs can be found at http://stdamienboyscouts.wordpress.com. The group’s Skype name is saint.damien.scouts.
The scouts have raised about $20,000 of the $28,000 they expect the trip to cost. Information on donating can be found at http://stdamienboyscouts.wordpress.com