Joseph de Veuster went into history as what?

Lammel

A Catholic Saint Venerable Joseph de Veuster Joseph was born at Tremeloo, Belgium, on January 3. He studied at the College of Braine-le-Comte, and in 1860 joined the Fathers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (the Picpus Fathers), taking the name Damien. At his request he was sent as a missionary to Hawaii in 1864, was ordained the same year in Honolulu, and spent the next nine years working to evangelize the peoples of Puno and Kohala. In 1873, again at his request, he was sent to the leper colony at Molokai and spent the rest of his life ministering to the lepers. He contracted the dread disease himself in 1885 but continued to live and work with and aid the lepers until his death on Molokaw on April 15. Thopugh he was often slandered during his lifetime, his holiness and dedication were quickly recognized after his death (Robert Louis Stevenson wrote an impassioned defense of his character in 1905), and he was declared Venerable by Pope Paul VI in 1977. http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=570 [Added text from the reference link - McG] Mar 02 03, 7:22 AM

nealio302

Father Damien (January 3, 1840 – April 15, 1889), born Joseph de Veuster and aka Blessed Damien of Molokai, was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium and member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a missionary religious order. In both ecumenical religious and non-sectarian communities, Damien is being adopted as the symbol of how society should treat HIV/AIDS patients in defiance of the misconceptions of the disease, much like leprosy treatment was an outgrowth of misconceptions. Several Damien Centers have been established worldwide to serve people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Damien [Additional text from the reference link - McG] Mar 24 08, 7:37 AM