Among the thousands expected in Saint Peter's Square for the canonization of Father Damien ware 127 with a special connection to the Sacred Hearts priest.

The youngest is 2, the oldest 90.

Together, the 127 represent most of Damien's living relatives.

They traveled to Rome from all over Belgium, Damien's birthplace, for something of a family reunion to attend the canonization.

Damien's great-grandnephew, Jan de Veuster, who planned the trip, said the relatives will travel in two groups — one with 40 people, one with 87.

The last time the family came together was in 1995, when Damien was beatified in Belgium and given the title of "blessed" — in Roman Catholicism, the last step before elevation to sainthood.

In a phone interview from Belgium in September, de Veuster said the family was awed and inspired by the reverence for Father Damien around the world. "We are happy ... proud," said de Veuster, 62.

He added, "We didn't do anything. We are just relatives."

Damien, born Joseph de Veuster in Tremelo, Belgium, in 1840, is known around the world for his service to Hansen's disease patients at Kalaupapa, Moloka'i, from 1873 to 1889, when he himself died from the disease.

Jan de Veuster said he grew up learning about Damien from his family.

He also learned about his famous relative in school.

"Everyone knew him ... when we were youngsters. At that moment, no one was thinking about sainthood. For us, he was a saint," said de Veuster, adding that he has always thought of Damien as a hero. "He gave his life. I don't know any other description," he said.

In 1981, Jan de Veuster became the first member of his family to visit Kalaupapa since Damien's time. He didn't alert anyone on the island that he was coming. But Richard Marks, a well-known Kalaupapa patient, activist and the last sheriff of Kalawao County, recognized his name on a passenger list and picked him up at the airstrip himself.

Marks, who died last year, and de Veuster quickly became friends.

De Veuster said he spent time at Marks' home in Kalaupapa and visited three more times.

Marks also visited de Veuster in Belgium.

De Veuster said he hopes to reconnect with other patients attending the canonization, including Marks' wife, Gloria. The patients are making the pilgrimage with Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva to Belgium and Rome.

De Veuster said there is a lot of excitement about the canonization in Belgium.

Damien is a national hero, he added, even though most Belgians today aren't particularly religious. He said part of Damien's appeal to Catholics and non-Catholics alike is the priest's amazing sacrifice.

"It was the braveness" of Father Damien, de Veuster said.

De Veuster, who started a successful travel agency in Schoten, Belgium, that is now managed by one of his sons, said he will be leading the larger group of relatives on a five-day tour of Rome culminating with the canonization. His son, Maarten, is leading the smaller group.

De Veuster said his branch of the family is "the northern part."

In all, he said, there are "10 tribes" of de Veusters scattered around Belgium.

In his own immediate family, he said, there has long been a tradition to take Jozef Damiaan as a "second and third Christian name" to commemorate Father Damien. He himself is Jan Jozef Damiaan de Veuster. His sons are also named after Father Damien, as are his grandchildren.