Catholic Happenings in Hawaii 2006

There was so much news this year for Catholics living in Hawaii. Our diocese's paper The Hawaii Catholic Herald recently covered the year's events in the most recent issue.

Some highlights were:

JANUARY:

Father George Clements of Chicago, the first Catholic priest in the United States to adopt a child, is the visiting homilist at the annual Red Mass on Jan. 19 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace. Father Clements urges Hawaii families to open their homes to “modern day orphans.”

My family and I were blessed to have met Fr. Clements, (someone we have admired for a long time), during the March for Life. He also was invited to celebrate Mass at our parish and it was a real thrill to hear his homily.

Bishop Silva is a featured speaker at the Jan. 20 March for Life at the state capitol, an annual event that protests the U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion.

Prior to the March for Life Rally, John Long of Hawaii Right to Life introduced me to Bishop Silva. Funny that it took a non-Catholic friend to introduce me to our new Catholic bishop :-)

Catholic home schooling families on Oahu receive a blessing from Bishop Silva at a special Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace on Jan. 29.

My family and I were unable to attend because at the time, we were not homeschooling.

APRIL:

Bishop Silva dedicates the Diocese of Honolulu to the Divine Mercy devotion of St. Faustina Kowalska at a Mass on Mercy Sunday, April 23, at Star of the Sea Church. He is the first bishop in the nation to do so.

This was a huge blessing to the islands!

In his first public service announcement produced for television, Bishop Silva appears in a 60-second Easter spot distributed to all the major television stations in Honolulu.

You can view Bishop Silva's Easter message found at the right sidebar of this blog.

MAY:

Bishop Silva appoints vicar general Father Marc Alexander to be moderator of the curia, the person who oversees the administration of the diocese’s central offices, on May 1.

Although, this was good news to the Diocese, Fr. Marc's appointment left a big void at our parish where he had been our pastor.

Maryknoll School in Honolulu bids a fond aloha to its last two Maryknoll sisters on staff, Sister Maria Rosario Daley and Sister Marie Patrice Kehoe, at a farewell luncheon on May 27. The two sisters leave the school, founded by the Maryknoll Sisters in 1927, on June 2.

Another bittersweet milestone for our parish. At least Sr. Rosario chose to remain in Hawaii.

JULY:

Bishop Silva celebrates the one year anniversary of his ordination as bishop of the Diocese of Honolulu on July 21.

SEPTEMBER:

The second annual Divine Mercy Conference in Hawaii is held at the Hawaii Convention Center, Sept. 8-10.

Hawaiian clothing company Reyn Spooner releases a new aloha wear line on Sept. 25 designed by Big Island artist Dietrich Varez featuring images of Blessed Damien and Blessed Marianne.

These are just beautiful!

Bishop Silva leads the first public eucharistic procession in possibly decades through downtown Honolulu on Oct. 22 in a prayer for vocations to the religious life.

NOVEMBER:

The Hawaii Daughters of St. Paul and Pauline Books & Media sponsor an early screening of new film “The Nativity Story,” Nov. 21.

Bishop Silva ordains seminarians Peter Miti, Paul Dong-Ming Li and Cletus Mooya as deacons on Nov. 30 at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa.

Please pray for them!

DECEMBER:

It is announced that Bishop Silva will lead the Hawaii delegation to Sydney, Australia, for World Youth Day in July 2008.

For entire list of the year in review and for more Catholic news around the islands, click above.