There are about eight saints who are considered American saints: Even though they may have been born elsewhere, they did their good works here.

Will Father Damien de Veuster be one of them?

When he did his good works in Kalaupapa, Hawai'i was still a kingdom.

That interesting tidbit did not escape the notice of the Rev. Ed Popish, a Sacred Hearts priest who served at Kalaupapa but now lives at the order's general house in Rome.

Irene Letoto, the retired curator of the Damien Museum, which is currently closed, believes Hawai'i can lay claim to Damien, precisely because he did all his good works here.

Though born in Belgium, Damien was ordained on O'ahu and studied at the Sacred Hearts Father's College of Ahuimanu on the Windward side.

"The efforts to have him made a saint began with the Sacred Hearts order here," Letoto added. "I consider him somewhat local."

Exhuming his body and moving it to Belgium in 1936 was controversial, Letoto explained. At first, his corpse wasn't returned to Belgium because "when he died, his body was not best in world," she said — not surprising, given that he died of Hansen's disease.

"At the time, nobody could see sainthood in the offing," she said. "Everybody was like, 'Hands off.' Further looking at it, they realized this guy did great stuff, here was saintly material.

Popish understands the Island connection, too.

"It's great," Popish said. "To be a saint means to be universal, but to be attached to a place gives impetus to the work he did."

And Letoto adds that while many may claim him, Islanders shouldn't be too proprietary: "He's not just for Hawaiians or Belgians. Damien was a man for everybody."