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International Launch of New Book on Father Damien De Veuster
Posted on 6 July 2009 by
The International Launch of “Father Damien: A Bit of Taro, A Piece of Fish, and A Glass of Water” will be held on July 10 from 12-8 p.m. at the IDEA Center for the Voices of Humanity, 32 Fall Street, Seneca Falls. The book will be published in Italian and French later this summer.
Father Damien will be canonized in Rome on October 11, 2009.
The story of Father Damien has been told and retold hundreds of times in books and articles. However, these accounts have generally not included the voices and insights of the people who were most affected by Father Damien’s presence, the people who had leprosy themselves and lived and worked alongside him on the remote Kalaupapa peninsula in Hawaii. By looking at the 16 years of his life spent at Kalaupapa through the eyes of those who knew him as their spiritual leader and their friend, this book focuses on Father Damien’s relationship with the people of Kalaupapa and also discusses his legacy in the context of current discussions related to leprosy and human rights.
The book also highlights the influential role that Mother Marianne Cope played in the history of leprosy in Hawaii and in the last years of Father Damien’s life. Mother Marianne, who left Syracuse for Hawaii with six other Sisters of St. Francis in 1883, was beatified by the Catholic Church in 2005 and inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls later that same year.
The book’s authors, Anwei and Henry Law, coordinate the IDEA Center for the Voices of Humanity in Seneca Falls, which also houses IDEA’s international offices. IDEA is the largest international human rights advocacy organization by and for people who have had leprosy, with branches in 22 countries.
The Quest for Dignity Exhibit, which was launched at the United Nations in 1997, is on permanent display at the IDEA Center.
IDEA Center for the Voices of Humanity
32 Fall Street, Suite A
Seneca Falls, NY 13148
Contact: Henry and Anwei Law
(315) 568-5838
(315) 224-5507 (cell)
E-mail: alaw@idealeprosydignity.org
To purchase copies please click on this link: http://www.idealeprosydignity.org/book/IDEABookstore.htm
Categories: News and Notes