In defense of St Damien of Molokai

This is Bishop Robert Barron, an auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He is founder of the Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, which have become quite popular. You can tell he is fed up.

[jamesbyrd]

I was stationed in Honolulu in the mid 80's when I first learned of Father Damien. His story of self-sacrifice and service to these poor lepers brought this grown man and Southern Baptist to tears, quite literally. AOC shouldn't be allowed to dust the statue or stand in its shadow. She has not one iota of compassion that isn't faked. Shame on you AOC.

[ExodusJack]

Im from belgium and its a well spoken topic right now in our country, poor poor alexandria ocasio-cortez. Making a badname for the saint damien, to fuel your campaign against racism is not the right move! Saint damien wa so selfless he should be an example for everyone!

[normaalexander]

Thank you for educating people and speaking out for our Saints.

[TyroneBeiron]

Thank you Bishop Barron... St Damien is revered even here in Singapore 🇸🇬 and a parish Hall in Queenstown is named after him... The sort of 'revisionist' commentary offered by AOC offends Catholics everywhere in the world because the Church's 'mission' worldwide is not some imperialistic colonial effort and this sort of confusion is very dangerous to more minds. Thank you for helping to counteract this nonsense. 🍷🍷💐🇸🇬

[SanzL]

My favorite saint...I love St. Damien of Molokai who is still revered and respected by the Hawaiian people and is revered in other religions, as well, not just by Catholics. How can he not be? Just thinking about him makes me cry. Anyone who has questions about St. Damien should watch the movie, "Molokai: The Story of Father Damien." Viewers will never forget it!! Did Jesus tell us that there is no greater love than giving one's life for one's friends? St. Damien is the embodiment of Jesus's statement!

[JoaoBasso]

She has not a clue of who was Father Damien neither she has any interest in the sick and sufering.

[chrisreardon]

AOC can only dream of leaving a legacy of utmost human compassion and service as did St. Damien.

[cinta]

She needs to live with the lepers and do exactly what Fr. Damien did for them for the rest of her life, thats the condition she needs to do if she wanted to remove the hero's statue.

[LK-nshr]

I'm from Belgium too and I love Saint Damien for his courage, faith, and love. Saint Damien pray for Belgium and these leaders in the USA.

[Floriaanterbeke]

She missed a chance to keep her history wisdom behind her teeth.

[sjenner]

I went to a high school outside San Francisco that had a quite a few Hawaiian students. And I can say categorically that St. Damien of Molokai was a big deal to them, both Catholics and Protestants. St. Damien was and is in every sense a Hawaiian because he was there for the Hawaiians in a way that no one else was. I can only say how sad to pick St. Damien out. What did St. Damien do except love and die for those whom he loved?

[edwardbain]

Dear Father thankyou for taking the step to speak out about the evil creeping into the minds of our fellow citizens.Jesus was truly the Son of a loving Father that sacrificed His life and forgave the violent men who mercilessly nailed him to the cross even while they were piercing His flesh.
Yet He steadfastly witnessed to the truth and called out in witness to evil self righteousness deceit and cruelty in His words and teaching!!!! It is time we all begin to speak up we have been silent long

[ubstarcolor]

Thank you for standing up for the people that did good. This woman needs to do her research

[rdg]

Bishop Barron, thank you for speaking out. Keep going. We depend on you as Bishop to fight. Thank you.

[BarnCat]

My confirmation saint is St. Damien and to have someone like AOC go after a man who gave up his life to help others just makes me sick. This only makes me more proud of the saint I chose to watch over me and I can’t wait to meet him one day!

[vinniep]

Thanks Bishop Barron for this short video. We need honest dialogue like this. Yes we have problems in our country; indeed our world. But cancelling and rewriting history will not make things better and will inevitably lead to worse things happening by future generations. Keep speaking up! We need leaders like you.

[richardmurphy]

My favourite Saint honestly how could you pick on this guy of all guys

[Kelpie]

We all need to speak out, demonstrate, contact authorities do whatever
I notice they leave muslins Islam alone - they know they’ll react, we need voices to be heard for good or should I say God 😎

[Bob-hbtr]

Welcome to the Battle...well said...Thank you...

[denisefuerst]

Thank you, Bishop Barron, for speaking up. We need to hear your voice on these injustices.