Saint Philomena Church

Address
Kalaupapa Peninsula, Kalawao, Molokai 96742

Celebration of the Mass: the 1st Sunday of each month at 9 am and other special occasions by visiting priests.

St. Philomena is now a part of the Kalaupapa National Park under the management of the National Park Service.

St. Philomena Church was built at the Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement on Molokai between 1872 and 1889. The initial church was constructed in 1872 by the Hansen’s disease patients living at Kalaupapa. Father Damien arrived in Kalawao in 1873 and helped expand the church twice. The original 1872 church was integrated into the expanded section and can be seen in the photos. The work on the church’s second expansion finished the year after his death.

Interior and Exterior collage view of St. Philomena Church Kalaupapa, Molokai

St. Philomena Church, Kalaupapa, Molokai

The different phases of St. Philomena Church in Kalawao on the Kalaupapa Peninsula (image from ‘The Damien Series’)