greatest hawaiian

As of today the man carrying the title of Greatest Belgian (the Flemish one at least, he was only third in the Walloon version of the tv-show) will be a saint. Jozef De Veuster (or father Damian as the rest of the world knows him) has finally interceded enough from beyond the grave to be called holy.

If that does not tell you enough about the catholic religion ... nothing will but that is not what this post is about.

I would have understood that we had made Ambiorix the Greatest Belgian. He united the tribes in our regions against Julius Caesar. Granted, Belgium only exists since 1830, so Ambiorix came a bit too soon.

And I would have understood that Jozef De Veuster was made Greatest Hawaiian. And I would have been proud to know that a Belgian got that title. It says more about the Hawaiians then about Jozef himself really, but still.

My main point is however, what did Jozef De Veuster do for Belgium ? And the answer is. Nothing. He left when he was still young. The real story of his life only started on Hawaii.

So if we named him Greatest Belgian, that also says a lot about us ...