The following articles were written by Dan Lynch. Please click on the title to view the complete article.
Our Lady of America appeared to Sr.
Pope Francis Authorizes Pilgrimages To Medjugorje
On May 12, 2019 , Pope Francis authorized pilgrimages to Medjugorje, which can now be officially organized by dioceses and parishes and will no longer take place only in a private capacity as before. This is not an approval of the supernaturality of the alleged apparitions or revelations of Medjugorje that are still being studied.
The “ad interim” director of the Holy See Press Office, Alessandro Gisotti, said, “Considering the considerable flow of people who go to Medjugorje and the abundant fruits of grace that have sprung from it, this authorization is part of the particular pastoral attention that the Holy Father intended to give to that reality, aimed at encouraging and promoting the fruits of good.”
Jesus King of All Nations Heals through Our Lady of America, Mediatrix of All Grace
When Will I Reign in Your Heart?
Jesus gives us the freedom to open or close the door of our hearts to Him. Jesus said in the Book of Revelation, “Here I stand, knocking at the door. Whoever hears me calling and opens the door, I will enter their house, have supper with them and they with me.” (Revelation 3:20).
Our Lady of America gave young people a reason to live. She asked them to be pure and wants them to study and live the spirituality of the Divine Indwelling. She also said that the youth of America would bring conversion to the world as “Torchbearers of the Queen”.
When a Saint Addressed the US Bishops
Servant of God, Sister Thea Bowman, F.S.P.A. (Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration), addressed the US Bishops at their annual meeting held in 1989.
Thousand Oaks is the 307th Mass Shooting in 2018
Padre Pio’s Secret Weapon against Clerical Homosexual Corruption
Padre Pio (1887–1968) was an Italian priest and the first stigmatist priest in the world. Unfortunately, he suffered under obedience to a homosexual bishop and under clerical homosexual corruption in his diocese that went as high up as the Vatican. His secret weapon against this was personal holiness.
The I Should Do This! Checklist for the Laity
As a member of the lay faithful, you are called by your Baptism to be an apostle to bring the Gospel message into the temporal realities of the world such as your family, neighborhood, work, parish, culture, the media, politics, sports, etc.
A Catholic Perspective on the Issues of the 2016 Election
As Catholics, before we vote, we are called to inform ourselves about the issues and to form our consciences correctly in accordance with the natural moral law and the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Last week I attended and addressed the 18th Annual Catholic Leadership Conference, held October 4-6 in Denver Colorado. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were invited to attend and address us.
Donald Trump said that he had a scheduling conflict, but that he would send us a letter. Two days before the conference, Hillary Clinton said that she would not attend.
The recent death of United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia reminded me of the so-called “Seton Miracles”, his belief in them and their relation to the Jesus King of All Nations Devotion.
The Seton Miracles included a priest’s wounds of the stigmata and incidents surrounding him such as weeping statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, changing-color rosaries, miracle colors and lights in the sky, and miraculous healings from 1991 to 1993 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Woodbridge, Virginia.
On his return airplane flight from Mexico, Pope Francis gave his customary in-flight press conference. As usual, the results of the media driven agenda of the press conference overshadowed any news of good words or actions done by the pope before it during his pilgrimage in Mexico.
A friend of mine sent me a book published by Caritas of Birmingham. He asked for my opinion about it. This is what I wrote to him: Dear Joe, I read the book that you sent me published by Caritas of Birmingham, It Ain’t Gonna Happen! You asked for my opinion.
A friend of mine asked me what I thought of Donald Trump. Here is my answer: Dear Jim, You asked me for my thoughts about Donald Trump. The easiest way that I can explain him is by calling him names, like he does to everyone else, except that his names, such as “fat”, “slob”, “bimbo”, etc., are meaningless and mine might have a little bit more precision to them.
Recently I wrote Pray for St. Louis,
an article about the flooding of the Mississippi River and requesting
prayers for its abatement through the intercession of Our Lady of
Guadalupe.
Pray for a Miracle for Addie through Mattie!
Addie Moser is a bright, creative and courageous 11-year-old girl who has suffered for more than a year from Gorham’s disease. Gorham’s disease is a very rare skeletal condition that can be life threatening. It is characterized by loss of bone and fluids, because of which it is commonly known as vanishing bone disease.
There
are 17 million people nationwide living in areas where there are flood
warnings and thousands of homes in Missouri and Illinois threatened by
floods. At least 20 deaths were blamed on flooding.
Terrorist attacks by militant jihadist Muslims are becoming so
frequent that we soon forget them. I use the term “militant jihadist
Muslims” because peaceful Muslims profess that jihad is not a violent
external struggle, but an interior spiritual struggle. Therefore, I use
the word “militant jihadist Muslims” to distinguish the violent
terrorists from the peaceful Muslims who do not engage in violent
terrorism.
“Violence and godlessness increase daily. Enthrone My image!”
On
December 2, terrorists attacked and massacred people celebrating a
holiday party at their place of business in San Bernardino, California.
On the very same day, Jesus King of All Nations revealed a message for
us to “Awake! A great catastrophe is about to befall you!”
Hurricane
Joaquin’s recent sudden change of direction and subsequent severe
damage reminded me of Hurricane Charley. The track forecast for both
hurricanes shifted significantly eastward.
Robert Finn was the
bishop of the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri. I ate with
Bishop Finn at a breakfast honoring Our Lady of America at a United
States Catholic Bishops’ conference. He seemed to be interested and open
to the devotion to Our Lady of America. He was a pleasant breakfast
companion.
New Jersey Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski placed Patricia Jannuzzi, a 30 year
veteran Catholic elementary school theology teacher, on administrative
leave for posting on her personal Facebook page what the Bishop called
“harsh and judgmental statements.”
The New Era of Our Lady of Fatima and St. John Paul II or of the Book of Eli?
The Book of Eli is a 2010 movie starring Denzel Washington. It
is about a man named Eli who carries a book alone across America towards
the West. A “voice” told him to preserve the book. He is on a trek of
30 years since an apocalyptic war. The book is the King James version of
the Bible, a Bible without many of the parts of the true Bible.
Pope Francis, “I Want the Church to Go Into the Streets”
Pope Francis told the youth at World Youth Day on July 26, “I want the
Church to go out into the streets, I want us to defend ourselves against
all worldliness, opposition to progress, from that which is
comfortable, from that which is clericalism, from all that which means
being closed up in ourselves. Parishes, schools, institutions are made
in order to come out … if they do not do this, they become a
non-governmental organization, and the Church must not be an NGO.”
May Christ Have Mercy on Brittany, Because Her Doctors Did Not!
Brittany Maynard, 29, died in Portland, Oregon on Saturday after
publicly announcing her intention to commit suicide in a video seen by
millions. She committed suicide by taking fatal drugs legally provided
by her doctors for her so-called “mercy killing.”
Is Pope Francis Changing Church Teaching on Human Life and Sexuality?
Pope
Francis recently gave an interview for publication by the Jesuits. The
secular media have labeled him as a liberal and misconstrued his
interview in their wishful thinking that he will change Church teaching
on human life and sexuality.
Popes
are neither liberals nor conservatives on Church teaching, as
politicians are often labeled. Also, they are not like politicians who
can change policy with changes of administration. Popes are faithful to
the constant teaching of the Church. So we need not fear that he will
change the Church’s teaching that contraception, abortion and legalized
same sex relationships are intrinsically and always evil.
Sadly, Our Lady of America Statue Was Not Processed
At a time when we are faced with the dangers of untold terror, violence
and war, the use of nuclear weapons by rogue regimes, worldwide
persecution of Christians, economic devastation and the plague of Ebola,
Our Lady’s requests are most urgent and beg your attention!
The statue of the Queen of Our Country must be solemnly processed and
displayed in our National Shrine to be a safeguard for our country.
Please help her.
Pope Francis said, “Europe has discarded its children. … So it’s food, medicine, clothing, cosmetics, little animals, and the life of [sexual] pleasure…. Europe, return to Jesus!”
Pope Francis addressed the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe
on October 3. His unscripted off-the-cuff address was just released
yesterday by Vatican correspondent Sandro Magister. Our pope has firmly disabused anyone of the idea that he is not pro-life. The following is a part of his address.
Obedience Is the Answer to Ferguson Style Violence
As a former lawyer and judge, I believe that obedience to the law is the
answer to Ferguson style violence. If there had been obedience to
lawful authority, there would not have been any death and violent mayhem
in Ferguson.
The ripple effects of Ferguson’s violence continue to go out through the
nation because of the alleged racism that led to the death of Michael
Brown. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines racism in
its Glossary as “Unjust discrimination on the basis of a person’s race; a
violation of human dignity, and a sin against justice.” Racism is a sin. Acting in self-defense is not. Officer Darren Wilson acted in justifiable self-defense against the assault of Michael Brown.
Pray for God’s Justice and Mercy for Bishop Finn
Bishop Finn story is not over. The State is finished with him, but the
Church has started its own investigation regarding his fitness to serve
as a bishop. Read on.Robert Finn is the bishop of the diocese
of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri. I ate with Bishop Finn at a
breakfast honoring Our Lady of America at a United States Catholic
Bishops’ conference. He seemed to be interested and open to the devotion
to Our Lady of America. He was a pleasant breakfast companion.
US/Russia/China Personal Report from Moscow
US/Russia/China/ relations are not very happy. I quote below from what Dr. Robert Moynihan, editor of Inside the Vatican
magazine, wrote on January 3 and 4 from his retreat in a monastery in
Manoppello, Italy, about a Skype conversation with his friend in Russia.
He wrote, “I don’t know what to do.”
I say, let us pray the
Novena in Honor of Jesus as True King for the intention of world peace
and our protection. Jesus asked us to pray, “Protect, O Lord our King,
our families and the land of our birth. Guard us, we pray, Most Faithful
One! Protect us from our enemies and from Your Just Judgment.” You may
copy and paste it from here.
What Do Militant Muslims Want? Is the Pope in Danger?
Do you watch television from your easy chair or read the bad news as
militant Muslims continue their barbaric rampage across the world
killing innocent Christians and Jews?
Do you dignify some of them by calling them ISIS? ISIS is an acronym for
the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. However, they are not a legitimate
state in the family of nations and should not be dignify by being
called a state.
President Obama Fiddles While Christians and Their Churches Burn
“We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical
confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide
circles of American society or wide circles of the Christian community
realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between
the Church and the Anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel.” (Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, later St. Pope John Paul II, November 9, 1976).
The Chastisements of Superstorm Sandy and the Election of Secularism
God
brought us the chastisement of Superstorm Sandy and we brought upon
ourselves the chastisement of the Election of Secularism and the
continuation of the moral evils prevalent in our Culture of Death.
Over
40% of practicing Catholics and over 70% of Latinos (most of whom are
Catholics) voted for President Obama with his promises of support for
our Culture of Death through his support of sterile same-sex
relationships, tax funded abortions and infanticides and his mandate
for employers to pay, against their consciences, for medical insurance
coverage for contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.
Almost 50% of the voters of the state of Massachusetts, which was our
country’s cradle of life, liberty and freedom of religion, voted for
legal suicide.
Why Did God Allow the Newtown School Slaughter?
We
are mindful of the victims, their families and the survivors of the
Newtown School Slaughter. We mourn for them. We pray for them and for
those children who must return to school with these horrid memories.
This slaughter reminds us of “Rachel weeping for her children, and she
would not be consoled, since they were no more.” (Matthew 2:18).
The
Newtown Slaughter was not merely a human criminal event, it was sin
inspired and directed by evil. Connecticut Governor Daniel Malloy told
us that “evil visited this community today”. Evil is not created by
God, it is the absence of the good that He has created, inspired by a
real evil personality, Satan, with whom the human race has been in
conflict since the Garden of Eden when he tempted Adam and Eve into the
Original Sin.
Both Mothers and Fathers Regret Aborting Their Children
Many
mothers and fathers gave public witness of their regrets for aborting
their children. They testified in front of the United States Supreme
Court building in Washington, DC, at the end of the March for Life.
This
litany was prayed at the National Memorial for the Preborn held in
Constitution Hall at the March for Life in Washington, DC.
This
was an ecumenical prayer service led by Father Frank Pavone, National
Director of Priests for Life, and over 100 other ecumenical leaders
shown on the stage.
Father Frank preached that abortion is the very opposite of love.
Woman Claims Trademark on the Statue of Our Lady of America
A
woman named Patricia Fuller claims control of the devotion to Our Lady
of America by virtue of a copyright and a trademark. She claims that
Sister Mildred, the mystic of the devotion, left her the copyright to
the Diary of Our Lady’s revelations in her last will and
testament. Later, in 2003, Ms. Fuller registered a trademark for
statues of Our Lady of America.
Justin Bieber’s Mom Said No to His Abortion and Yes to His Life!
Pattie
Mallette, Justin Bieber’s mom, recently spoke at a church in Florida.
She said that she was a 17 year old unwed mother who “was being
pressured to have an abortion, but I chose to keep Justin.”
Pattie
said that her own youth was filled with shame and confusion which led to
her self-medication with drugs and alcohol and ultimately to her
attempted suicide which caused her hospitalization.
The Modern Day Boston Massacre
My son-in-law sat
in a restaurant yesterday afternoon one block from the finish line of
the Boston Marathon. He heard the bombs exploding and simply thought
that it was celebratory cannon fire as part of the festivities. He
survived the violent and tragic end of the race.
Within 10 minutes, police
entered the restaurant and ordered everyone to evacuate, without any
explanation. Everyone left in an orderly manner. He heard sirens
blaring. Everyone was trying to figure out what was going on. They tried
to use their cell phones to access the Internet or to text friends, but
it was clogged from overuse. So he just started walking home.
True CHANGE and HOPE Come Through Prayer, Not Through Political Promises
Our Lady of America is our Queen and national patroness. She said,”I am the Immaculate One, Patroness of your land. Be my faithful children, as I have been your faithful Mother.”
As her faithful children, we must pray for America to have True CHANGE and HOPE for life and peace and we must wear her medal for protection!
Ted Kennedy’s Funeral and the Sacrilegious Communions Continue
The issues surrounding Ted Kennedy’s funeral are not limited to whether Cardinal O’Malley should have allowed or presided at his public funeral or whether he should have allowed the grand celebration of Kennedy’s supposed legislative accomplishments (without mention of his support for abortion, embryonic killing or same-sex marriage) or even the quasi-canonization by the priest homilist. The central issue is whether sacrilegious Communions were committed by Catholic politicians who publicly support the horrendous sin of abortion.
Jesus King of All Nations and His Basilica
Jesus appeared to a young American woman in the late 1980s as the King of All Nations. He said, “This image is a sign that I rule Heaven and earth, and My Kingdom, My reign, is near at hand . . . Give this image to mankind as a source of graces and of peace. . . . I have come to entrust to you a message of great importance for the world. I tell you the days are coming when all Mankind will cry out to me for mercy. I tell you, My child, only one thing will be given as a remedy. I Myself AM that remedy! Let souls give to devotion to Me through My Most Holy Mother, who mediates to Me on their behalf, as ‘Jesus King of All Nations’”.
Dorothy Day’s Pro-Life Memories
“I wish every woman who has ever suffered an abortion would come to know Dorothy Day. Her story was so typical. Made pregnant by a man who insisted she have an abortion, who then abandoned her anyway, she suffered terribly for what she had done, and later pleaded with others not to do the same. But later, too, after becoming a Catholic, she learned the love and mercy of the Lord, and knew she never had to worry about His forgiveness. [This is why I have never condemned a woman who has had an abortion; I weep with her and ask her to remember Dorothy Day’s sorrow but to know always God’s loving mercy and forgiveness.] She had died before I became Archbishop of New York, or I would have called on her immediately upon my arrival. Few people have had such an impact on my life, even though we never met.” Cardinal John O’Connor.
This article substantially contains her actual words as edited and sometimes paraphrased by Dan Lynch. The information concerning her abortion was obtained from her biographers and her autobiographical novel, The Eleventh Virgin. Dorothy never publicly wrote or spoke about her abortion…
Saint Juan Diego, Protector of the Indigenous People and Model for the Lay Apostolate
“He was an Indian who lived an honest and secluded life, and who was a very good Christian, fearful of God and his conscience, a man of very good habits and behavior.” Marcos Pacheco, Elder of the village of Cuautitlan, Juan Diego’s birthplace, in Canonical Process 1666…
The early morning sun beat down on me as I prayed at St. John the Evangelist’s tomb located on a hill in the ruins of the Basilica devoted to him outside the city of Ephesus, Turkey. (See photo1). John wrote his Gospel and his letters in Ephesus and he often walked through the ancient city and up the mountain to Mary’s House where she lived for the last nine years of her life, died, was buried and from where she was assumed into heaven…
Pope John Paul II’s Encyclical the Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae) is a reflection on the Gospel of Life, which has its source and goal in Jesus Christ, the Beginning and the End. Life is a gift and should be defended as part of the truth about man and God. The Encyclical is an appeal to all individuals and peoples, believers and non-believers, to promote the culture of life against the culture of death. It is a summons to hearts and releases the forces of good in defense of human life. It is a call to a deep and courageous conversion that challenges the persons and institutions that promote the culture of death…
Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Gospel of Life
In his Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), the Holy Father refers to the “Great Sign” of the “woman clothed with the sun” from chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation as representing “the mutual relationship between the mystery of the Church and Mary.”
Pope John Paul II Names Our Lady of Guadalupe as the Mother of Hope and Mother and Evangelizer of America.
The Feast of St. Joseph is celebrated on March 19.
From Scripture we know that the great virtue of St. Joseph was his obedient faith. “He did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife.” Mt 1:24. He did this in spite of the fact that Mary’s pregnancy was apparently visible to everyone. He took her in the mystery of her motherhood and acted in obedient faith, as did Mary when she said, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” Lk 1:38. “Blessed are they who have not seen, yet have believed.” Jn 20:29.
At the Beginning of the New Millennium
POPE JOHN PAUL II’s APOSTOLIC LETTER
NOVO MILLENNIO INEUNTE
(At the Beginning of the New Millennium)
1. At the beginning of the new millennium, and at the close of the Great Jubilee during which we celebrated the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of Jesus and a new stage of the Church’s journey begins, our hearts ring out with the words of Jesus when one day, after speaking to the crowds from Simon’s boat, he invited the Apostle to “put out into the deep” for a catch: “Duc in altum” (Lk 5:4). Peter and his first companions trusted Christ’s words, and cast the nets. “When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish” (Lk 5:6). Duc in altum! These words ring out for us today, and they invite us to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm and to look forward to the future with confidence: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever” (Heb 13:8).
Cloud of Fire over Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Ark of the New Covenant
The photograph below the Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in a darkened church at night, covered by an apparent phenomenal cloud of fire. Our Lady of Guadalupe brings the light that shines in the people who walk in darkness. (See Is 9:1). Our Lady mediates to us the light and grace of the Holy Trinity and brings us her greatest gift, her son Jesus, as the Ark of the New Covenant.
Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini M.S.C.
Patroness of Immigrants
She was not a humanitarian; she was a heroic lover of God. In her missions of charity, in her achievement of the impossible, it was not genius; her secret was Divine Love. This is the wonderful story, a romance that is gripping and striking. It is the story of a woman who lived among us, who saw the things which we see, a woman in whose soul Divine Love had consumed the last remnant of self, who came to love only God, and who saw God in every poor man, woman and child.
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne “Woman Who Prays Always”
You have come, you say, seeking the Cross. Well, you have taken exactly the right road to find it. A thousand unforeseen difficulties may arise. Your establishment may grow slowly at first. Physical privations may be added, and those more keenly felt such as lack of spiritual help under particular circumstances. Be ready for all. . . .You and I shall spend our lives in this thankless task; our successors will reap the harvest in this world, let us be content to reap it in the next.
Letter from Louisiana Bishop William Du Bourg, January 1817.
“This is my pleasure,” explained the young Rose Duchesne to her father. He was criticizing her for giving some of her toys and coins to poor children that he had given her for her own pleasure. The tension between Rose’s vocation and her father’s anti-Catholicism had begun.
The Call to Total Consecration from St. Louis de Montfort
“They will know the grandeurs of that Queen, and will consecrate themselves entirely to her service as subjects and slaves of love. They shall be the true apostles of the latter times.”
St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, now that’s a strange sounding name – de Montfort – what’s it mean? Well, it’s not as strange as it sounds. St. John the Baptist said, “ He must increase while I must decrease” (Jn. 3:30). St. John meant that God must become more in him as he became less. As we empty ourselves, God fills us. And so it was that St. Louis emptied himself – even of his name. His middle name was Marie and his surname was Grignion. He dropped them both and preferred to be called simply le Pere de Montfort (the Father of Montfort) after his birthplace. “De” means “of” in French and that’s why we call him St. Louis de Montfort. His name is like “Joe from Kalamazoo.” He’s a nobody, so he preferred the name of a nobody.
“Why not, my child, yourself become a missionary?”
Pope Leo XIII to Saint Katharine Drexel
The mass migrations of peoples who immigrated to the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries dramatically changed American life and the Catholic Church in the United States. These millions of peoples, principally from Ireland, Germany, Italy and Poland, flocked to urban parishes where they preserved their native languages and cultures as they began the process of entering into the American melting pot and fulfilling the American Dream of a better life. They were ministered to by many priests, sisters and brothers, notably saints John Neumann and Mother Cabrini.
They started at the bottom of the economic work ladder, worked hard and left greater opportunities for their children. Eventually, they were amalgamated into American society. While all of this was happening to the immigrants, many United States citizens were left behind. Among them were the most neglected, the Indians and the People of Color, those later called Native Americans and African-Americans. God responded to their needs by calling to their aid a young woman with no formal education or natural talent for business administration. He called Katharine Drexel of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
We are starting off the New Year by celebrating the feast of St.
Elizabeth Ann Seton. She was our first native born to be canonized. She
was two years old in 1776 when she became a charter citizen of the
United States of America. She lived on to become a mother,
a widow and a foundress of the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph’s, the
first community for religious women to be established in the United
States. She also founded St. Joseph’s Catholic school, the first
Catholic parish school in the United States. Like all of our American
Saints, she is a model of holiness for us.
John was born on March 28, 1811 in Prachatitz, Bohemia (now Czechoslovakia) in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was named after Bohemia’s patron saint and martyr, Saint John Nepomucene. He was the third of six children of Philip and Agnes Neumann, both of whom were faithful Catholics. His father ran a small knitting business. The family spoke German and said daily morning and evening prayers together with the Rosary. His mother attended daily Mass and gave alms of food and clothing to her poorer neighbors. John later imitated her compassion when he saw a poor boy going from door to door with a bag on his back. His heart was touched and he exclaimed, “Oh, if I only had a bag, I would go about begging with the poor boy, and then he would get more!”
Saints Isaac Jogues, Rene Goupil and Jean de la Londe
Four canoes paddled slowly and cautiously along the marshy shore of the St. Lawrence River on August 3, 1642. The eyes of the paddlers swept the waist-high marsh grass. They were Huron Indians led by their great Chief Eustace together with some Frenchmen including Fr. Isaac Jogues and Rene Goupil. They were on their way to bring missionaries and supplies to nourish the lives and Christian faith of the Huron Mission in New France.
Founder of the California Missions
In 1750 at the age of 36, Franciscan Father Junipero Serra gave up his comfortable teaching services in Spain and volunteered to serve the Franciscan missions in the New World. He left Cadiz, Spain and sailed for Vera Cruz, Mexico. From there he walked for 24 days by foot to Mexico City and dedicated his mission vocation to Our Lady of Guadalupe at her shrine. He spent nine years preaching and ministering in Mexico.
The first Europeans to reach the Hawaiian
Islands arrived in 1778 with the discovery of English Captain James
Cook. There were then about 250,000 inhabitants but this number was
reduced to 60,000 within 100 years because of the diseases that the
Europeans brought with them such as smallpox, syphilis, tuberculosis and
leprosy.