no idea. What I will say is that the history of missionaries and colonialism in Hawaii is a pretty damning. Indeed several of those who left missionary work to more profitable pursuits where among those whose families ended up fomenting the coup that made Hawaii a US possession. Does that make Hawaii unique? Hardly! The Church was also complicit in the excesses of the Spanish conquistadors in the Americas and the subsequent reduction in Indian populations as a result of slavery, depravation and disease. Of course, Catholics in the US, in the north anyway, took a pretty strong abolitionist stance, which was opposed by most Protestant churches in the South. So it's a mixed bag.

Is it wrong to point that out? Is it harmful to people's psyches to have their preconceived notions challenged? We're not afraid to follow the truth wherever it may lead, right? As for Father Damien, yeah he personally did good work with the leper colony. It's also good to understand the context in which he was operating; yet another European trying to resolve the devastation to the Hawaiian culture from colonialism. From what I've read about him I'm pretty sure he did it selflessly. But I wouldn't consider him the best example of Hawaiian history if I were forced to pick two statues to be in the Rotunda.