A senior official for the sainthood cause of Father Damien said yesterday from Rome that if were up to him, the canonization will take place in October.

Hundreds of Island Catholics are planning to make the trip to St. Peter's to witness the historic occasion when Damien of Moloka'i becomes the first saint with Hawai'i ties.

"I hope that Father Damien's canonization will be celebrated in October during the African Synod," which is scheduled for Oct. 4 to 25 in Rome, the Rev. Alfred Bell wrote in an e-mail, then cautioned, "but it's only my hope."

Not just coincidentally, the synod will be held in Rome — the preferred location for canonizations under the current pope.

The date falls in line with expectations by Bishop Larry Silva, too.

"That's pretty much on target for what we've been hearing," Silva said. "I suspected it would be in that area."

But he, too, added a caveat: "Who knows? I'll wait until the shoe drops."

It makes the narrowest window yet for when the decades-long push for Damien's sainthood might come to its fruition.

In 1864, at age 24, Damien de Veuster came from Belgium to work with the multitudes who had contracted Hansen's disease, then called leprosy. He was ordained a Sacred Hearts priest on O'ahu before being stationed on Kalaupapa, where he contracted the illness and died from it in 1889.

Bell, a member of the Sacred Hearts order, serves as postulator, which means he works directly with the Vatican on matters relating to Damien's sainthood. He is based at the order's Rome headquarters.

Still, only Pope Benedict XVI can set and announce the official date when Blessed Damien makes the ascent to Saint Damien. Bell echoed that in the rest of his e-mail:

"We have not yet been informed of the precise date of Father Damien's canonization and probably we have to wait until February/March 2009, when the Holy Father will make it known at a consistory (gathering of church hierarchy)," he wrote. "We are therefore joyfully preparing for this solemn event that we hope to be celebrating soon."

"Normally canonizations are celebrated in the months of May/June or October."

Silva said earlier that the date would be set most likely around February and surmised that the canonization itself might happen around September or October.

It would be nice if the date could be announced in January or February, added the Rev. Chris Keahi.

"That would be probably the amount of time needed to prepare ourselves well," said Keahi, provincial of the Sacred Hearts order here.

Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to visit Africa in March in advance of the African Synod, which brings together Catholic leaders to address that continent's changing demographics and religious landscape.

The precise day for the canonization remains unknown, but the pope normally canonizes four to five people in the same celebration, "which takes place in St. Peter's Square at 10 o'clock," Bell noted in his e-mail.

Keahi expects a group of saints will be canonized. That's not a bad thing: Several dioceses will share the expenses, which could run in the millions.

"(Canonization is) very expensive," Keahi said. "By having three, four, five, it's even better. Then, dioceses and religious orders will divvy up the amount."

And he's content to sit back and let others tally the odds.

"This is nothing more than a waiting game now," Keahi said.