"People everywhere know about Father Damien. It's a great day. Thanks be to God."

That's how Bishop Larry Silva reacted to news that the pope had cleared the way for Damien's sainthood in the Catholic church.

When Silva took over the Diocese of Honolulu, which covers all of Hawai'i, one of his top priorities was the sainthood causes for Kalaupapa's two holy people, Father Damien de Veuster and Mother Marianne Cope.

"There aren't many places that have blesseds, and we have two," said Silva, referring to their revered status within the church, which is just one level below sainthood.

"You have to pay attention to that. The church does (canonizations) not just for the sake of having somebody in the Catholic hall of fame, but really so it can have a greater influence on all of us. It's a living gospel through the example of a person," Silva said by telephone from California.

The commission he created to further their causes will kick into high gear with the news that Damien's date of canonization is expected to be set at the next tribunal of the church's top leaders, presumably in February.

"We look forward to that day," said Silva, calling himself "very grateful to God" for the pope's signature on documents assuring that Damien will become Hawai'i's first saint.

Silva will meet with members of the commission — including Sister Helene Wood and several Sacred Hearts priests — next week.

"We've done some preliminary planning, but now we have to get serious about it," he said. "Hopefully, we can use it as an opportunity to renew ourselves."

There are many things to plan and propose:

• Pilgrimages to Rome and Belgium, likely for hundreds of people from Hawai'i;

• Masses of thanksgiving at Downtown's Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, in Kalaupapa and most likely elsewhere;

• Events surrounding the canonization itself, including events in Hawai'i, televising the canonization ceremonies, and maybe arranging places where the faithful can watch together.

All that will cost money, but he's not worried about raising it.

"We'll make it," Silva said. "The Lord will provide."

Also, Silva has been in the process of obtaining a relic of Damien. His body was exhumed from his grave in Kalaupapa in 1936 and shipped to Belgium, where it was reburied in Louvain, a town near Damien's birthplace in Tremelo.

A part of Damien's right hand was returned to the Honolulu diocese at beatification ceremonies in 1995, and re-interred at his original grave on Kalaupapa, the settlement on Moloka'i for patients of Hansen's disease, also known as leprosy.

With plans proceeding to renovate the Downtown cathedral, Silva has completed many of the steps to have another relic returned to Hawai'i, this one to be lodged at the 165-year-old cathedral, where Damien was ordained as a Sacred Hearts priest.

"When a priest from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints came over in November, I asked at that time, 'What is process for us getting a relic for the cathedral?'" Silva recounted. "He said, '(Obtain) the consent of the Sacred Hearts fathers' congregation in Rome,' which I did. Then, the consent from the cardinal in Brussels, which I did. Then, permission from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, which I did."

With all the paperwork in order, it's now a matter of logistics, he said, reaching the Belgian cardinal to actually exhume what Silva expects will be a piece of a bone from Damien's Louvain tomb.

Why relics? The bishop struggled to find a way to explain it to a secular audience: "It would be akin to having cemeteries, where people go to visit a loved one — a special place but not the only place (to think of the departed), but special because it's where the body of person they lived and loved is."

The fact that the relic may be part of Damien's canonization is coincidental, he said.

Though part of the right hand was returned to Hawai'i at the time of the beatification, there's no way to know if the new relic will be ready for the canonization.

"Possibly," Silva said. "We will get the relic — that's more than probable. But when we will get, what occasion, and whether it will be given at actual canonization Mass, I don't know."

Silva knows he isn't alone in his devotion to Damien.

"I always heard about him, growing up in grammar school, and he's always been an inspiration," he said. "Even though I didn't grow up in Hawai'i, having family in Hawai'i, I felt an affinity to Damien.

"… We need examples like this, we need saints, need heroes, need heroines — people who can help us through difficult and challenging times."