VATICAN INSIDER: RESEARCHING A FUTURE SAINT: FR. JOHN PAUL KIMES
I was a member of the Historical Commission for the Cause of Canonization of Servant of God Joseph Dutton who, as you know, worked for 44 years on Molokai with Saints Damien and Marianne caring for the victims of leprosy. When such a commission closes its work, a meeting must be held in the diocese of the cause for canonization with all members present. This is required by the dicastery for the causes of saints to which we our individual reports are sent.
Thus. two other members of that commission, Pat Boland of Honolulu and Fr.. John Paul Kimes, Canon law professor at the university of Notre Dame, and I met in Honolulu this past December to present our findings and work with Msgr. Robert Sarno, an advisor on the cause. One copy of the findings remain in the diocese of Honolulu and two are sent to Rome for further work by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
Though now retired, when he was on the staff of the dicastery (then the Congregation for Saints) in Rome, Msgr. Sarno also helped with the causes of St. Damien (canonized in 2009) and St. Marianne Cope (canonized in 2012).
The diocesan phase of the Joseph Dutton cause will close in Honolulu on January 21st, after which the Roman phase of his causes goes to work.
You have heard Fr, Kimes before but he is back this weekend with more riveting stories about the life and times of Servant of God Joseph Dutton, a man we both hope and pray will one day join Damien and Marianne at the honors of the altar.
This is a photo of Msgr. Sarno, Fr. Kimes and me at our special fund-raising event on Honolulu in November 2022.
Here we are at dinner in Honolulu (Duke’s restaurant) this past December with Dr. Maria Devera, president of the Joseph Dutton Guild in Honolulu. I am also on that guild.
I simply love this photo of Maria DeVera and me with Audrey Toguchi. It was Audrey’s miraculous cure of cancer through the intercession of Blessed Fr. Damien that led to his canonization in 2009. Audrey and I first met in July 2008 and have been good friends ever since: I see her during every trip I make to the islands (December was my 12th!), often with her husband Yuki. She is a lovely nonagenarian and a living history book on the Hawaiian islands. Audrey is the grandmother at whose knees you always want to sit and listen to her stories!
This was in the latest edition of the Hawaii Catholic Herald:
Joan's Rome 