An interfaith contingent is at Kalaupapa today for Ka Halawai La'a Ho'omanao Ana, a ceremony that includes the blessing of a site for a proposed monument and of unmarked cemetery lands.

The event, whose name means Sacred Service of Reconsecration and Remembrance, includes the reading of a state apology to those sent to Kalaupapa and the families they left behind.

Among those in attendance will be Catholic Bishop Larry Silva of the Diocese of Honolulu; the Rev. David Kaupu, retired kahu of Kaumakapili Church; the Rev. Charles Buck, conference minister of the United Church of Christ here; and stake president Arnold Wunder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The inviting of an interfaith contingent is to honor the different faith groups that could be found in the early days of Kalaupapa, said Valerie Monson of Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa, a nonprofit aiming to help Hansen's disease patients' families and friends. The group is also celebrating its fifth anniversary today.

With thousands of unmarked burials on the peninsula — many at Kalawao — it's important for the land to be consecrated, Monson said.

The nonprofit has estimated that about 8,000 people have died at Kalaupapa, but only about 1,300 graves have been identified. Monson's group has proposed that a monument be established on the peninsula with the names of those who died there with the disease, including Father Damien de Veuster, the priest now on his way to becoming the first saint with Hawai'i ties.

One gravesite recently discovered belongs to the great-grandfather of Hawai'i's Catholic bishop, Silva. The marker was found by Monson and historian Anwei Law, who heads up IDEA, an advocacy group for people with Hansen's disease, based in Seneca, N.Y.

"We knew his relatives were there and happened to find the grave," said Law, who is also compiling a full list of Hansen's disease patients. He added: "We spend a lot of time in the cemetery."

They recalled that the Silva ancestors' grave marker featured a Portuguese name, so when they came upon one for "Santos," they snapped photos, which were sent to Silva for confirmation.

That's how the bishop came to find the final resting place of his maternal grandmother's father.

"I haven't seen it yet," Silva said earlier in the week. "I'm looking forward to seeing it this Saturday."

About two decades ago, Silva's aunt here told him about his relatives on Kalaupapa, but he didn't realize that the knowledge put him in very select company.

"I was one of the first in my family to find out … (my ancestors) were there," said Silva, whose Isle cousins only learned about the Kalaupapa connection by reading news reports at the time of his ordination. "My family told me they were not to talk about that. There was always a suspicion if a family member had leprosy, then you'd have it, too."

He remembers a trip to Kalaupapa about 15 years ago.

"I looked up my great-grandfather's records and I got to make a copy of it, but they told me they didn't know where he was buried," he said, adding that he'd been told some grave markers had been taken away.

"I was resigned to that. All of a sudden, Valerie told me she found the grave."

The marker for Silva's great-aunt, Minnie (Santos) Arruda, his mother's sister, has not been found. But the recent discovery confirmed for him the connection he's had with a certain soon-to-be saint.

"I've felt it since I was a boy," he said, "an affinity to Father Damien."

And while the Catholic history at Kalaupapa is illustrious and often-told, it's interesting to note that the first church on Kalawao, the site of the early colony, was the Congregationalists' Siloama Church, built a year before Damien's St. Philomena.

"It was built by the residents within the first six months," said Monson. "About 36 Protestants asked the UCC to be released from their churches to start a new one. Religion was important to the people from the beginning."

Monson said she's not sure when the Mormons built their church, which still exists although the remaining residents are in Honolulu receiving treatment, but noted that "one of the most important leaders, Jonathan Napela, was there during Father Damien's time."

And remnants of a Soto Zen temple can be seen as part of the bookstore of the National Park Service monument.