VATICAN CITY (AP) President Barack Obama is hailing one of the Catholic Church's newest saints as a man whose work a century ago is helping AIDS sufferers in today's world.

Pope Benedict today canonized five new saints, including a 19th-century Belgian priest commonly known as Father Damien, who worked with leprosy patients on the Hawaiian island of Molokai (MOH'-luh-ky).

Obama, who was born in Hawaii, noted that millions worldwide suffer from disease, especially HIV/AIDS, and urged people to follow Damien's example by "answering the urgent call to heal and care for the sick." Among the pilgrims in St. Peter's Basilica today was a Hawaii resident who recovered from lung cancer after praying to Father Damien a healing the Vatican describes as miraculous.

The pope says the five new saints, which include two Spaniards, a Frenchwoman and a Polish bishop, have given of themselves totally without "calculation or personal gain."


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