His life and efforts on Molokai have inspired people from around the world. Now the name and works of Father Damien are helping to build a special church on the friendly isle.

State Senator J. Kalani English read aloud a resolution including the apology to about a dozen former patients with the ailment now called Hansen's disease at a Kalaupapa meeting hall yesterday.

Father Damien's church in Kalaupapa, Molokai, Hawaii on August 12, 2008. The state of Hawaii passed a resolution apologizing to the residents of Kalaupapa, who are victims of Hansens Disease, on how unfairly ...