Molokai: The Story of Father Damien

Molokai is the true story of a Belgian priest, young, healthy and devout, who single-handedly changed the lives and fates of the lepers of a Hawaiian leper colony in the nineteenth century. Damien De Veuster sacrificed himself for exiled lepers on Molokai, but there is a lot more to his life. He was a rebel when it came to helping his afflicted flock. Helping meant, to him, creating as normal a life as possible in the asylum, and demanding basic human rights for the community. He actively sought both a spiritual and a medical cure for leprosy. In both these endeavors he made great advances and many modern treatments of leprosy and palliative care can be traced back to him in origin. He realized that he would not gain the confidence of the lepers unless he risked contagion. This aroused intense hatred from his church authorities who felt he was breaking too many taboos but Damien, even when grossly disfigured from the leprosy which inevitably killed him, continued to work all the time for the needs of his people. He never lost his commitment or his sense of humor. This new biography, containing previously undisclosed material, makes a dramatic and fascinating story. Molokai is also a major feature film, directed by Paul Cox, with a screenplay by John Briley, and starring David Wenham, Peter O'Toole, Tom Wilkinson, Kris Kristofferson, Sam Neill and Derek Jacobi.