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Dennis Oda / doda@staradvertiser.com
Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed legislation Tuesday to establish Jan. 23 as Saint Marianne Cope Day. The nun
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Gov. Neil Abercrombie made it official Tuesday: Jan. 23 will be known as Saint Marianne Cope Day in Hawaii.
From 1888 until her death in 1918, Marianne Cope served Hansen’s disease patients banished to the remote Kalaupapa peninsula of Molokai. She is the second person who ministered in Hawaii to be canonized, after Father Damien de Veuster, who also worked with Hansen’s disease patients on Molokai.
Abercrombie held a ceremony in his chambers at the Capitol to sign House Bill 2539, which he said was a moving opportunity.
"For us in Hawaii the combination of St. Damien … and now (St.) Marianne Cope is particularly poignant and pertinent to our understanding of what it is to serve each other as brothers and sisters on this earth for what time is given to us," Abercrombie said. "So to have the opportunity to sign the bill today on behalf of all those who sponsored it and on behalf of all those who have been the beneficiary of the legacy of … St. Marianne Cope is something that I really treasure."
German-born American Maria Anna Barbara Koob was a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Syracuse, N.Y., before moving to Hawaii. She was canonized as St. Marianne of Molokai in October 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome.
Her religious congregation, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse all celebrate her feast day as Jan. 23.
"We’re just in awe, and we’re inspired by what she has done," said House Vice Speaker John Mizuno, lead sponsor of the bill. "It says a lot about powerful women, and … if we can give selflessly like she did, the world will be a better place."