January

Bishop Larry Silva issues a “pastoral letter to surfers in the Year of Faith,” Jan. 5.
St. Rita parish in Haiku begins the year with official ownership of the .61 acres of land on which its church has stood since 1920.
“The New Evangelization: Challenges and Promises” is the theme of the diocese’s annual priests’ retreat, Jan. 6-11, at St. Stephen Diocesan Center. Auxiliary Bishop William Antonio of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia, Philippines, leads the retreat.
Sister Florence Remata of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities leaves Kauai Jan. 8, ending the Franciscan Sisters’ ministry on the Garden Isle.
The final major event celebrating the canonization of St. Marianne Cope is held in Kalaupapa, Jan. 12. Special guests include apostolic nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York and Bishop Robert Cunningham of Syracuse.
At the annual Red Mass, Jan. 17, Sister Alicia Damien Lau of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities speaks about St. Marianne Cope’s example of community service. Cardinal Timothy Dolan is a guest homilist at the liturgy.
Mother Marianne Cope’s first feast day as a saint, and 175th birthday, is celebrated Jan. 23 with a Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.
Young Catholics make up the majority of about 500 participants at the 40th annual March for Life, Jan. 26, at the Hawaii state Capitol.
The Hawaii Catholic Schools Office begins collaboration with Chaminade University’s Master of Business Administration instructors and students on a “strategic plan implementation review.”
The diocese hires Kristina DeNeve as its new coordinator for adult faith formation and evangelization.
The diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry selects 10 new members for its Youth and Young Adult Ministry Advisory Council.

February

More than 700 faculty and staff from Oahu Catholic schools attend the Annual Conference for Catholic Educators, Feb. 1. Two conferences — one for early education instructors and another for middle/secondary educators — are held. The conference theme is “21st Century Learning in the Hawaii Catholic Schools.”
The diocesan Office of Stewardship and Development hosts its first “Stewardship Day” event with talks and panel discussions on spiritual giving, Feb. 2.
Pope Benedict XVI announces Feb. 11 his intention to resign the papacy at the end of the month. Bishop Silva issues a statement of gratitude for the pope’s service, canonization of two Hawaii saints and selection of him as Bishop of Honolulu in 2005.
Worldwide Marriage Encounter honors Joseph and Helen Vierra of Waimanalo, married for 75 years, as its “longest-married couple” in Hawaii.
Hawaii Opera Theatre performs “Dialogues of the Carmelites” for the first time in the Islands, Feb. 15-19.
During the first weekend in Lent, Feb. 15-17, 203 catechumens are welcomed at several rites of election ceremonies in the diocese.
The Italy-based Olivetan Benedictine Congregation announces its decision to close the Benedictine Monastery in Hawaii. The community’s members in Waialua work with the Diocese of Honolulu to keep their ministry in the Islands.
The boys basketball team of the recently co-ed St. Francis School wins its first Division II state championship, Feb. 23.
St. Francis Healthcare dedicates its new intergenerational center in Ewa, Feb. 28.

March

Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is elected the 266th pope, taking the name of Francis March 13.
Kailua craftswoman Pam Aqui is selected by the U.S. White House to create a rosary gift for Pope Francis’ installation. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is said to have presented the pope with the koa rosary at the installation Mass in Rome, March 19.
Hawaii-born Sacred Hearts Father Clyde Guerreiro leaves the Islands to help start a new mission for the religious order in Tonga.

April

The St. Anthony Junior-Senior High School symphonic band performs at Carnegie Hall in New York City, April 1.
Saint Louis School unveils a mosaic in its new Clarence T.C. Ching Learning and Technology Center, April 9, called “Jesus in Hawaii,” created by local artist Karen Lucas.
The Marianist Big Island Liturgy and Arts Conference expands with its first events on Maui and Lanai, April 12-14.
The Hawaii Catholic Herald launches its new website at www.hawaiicatholicherald.com.
Bishop Silva makes a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, with the Order of Malta, April 30-May 8.

May

The diocese implements surprise audits by an independent firm to check for best practices in the collection and counting of parish offertory funds.
“Meeting the Challenges of the Year of Faith” is the theme for the diocese’s annual Priests’ Convocation, May 13-17, at the Turtle Bay Resort in Kahuku.
On May 23, Bishop Silva establishes the Benedictine community in Waialua as a “public organization of the Christian faithful” under his diocesan authority. The new canonical status of the group allows its nuns and priests to continue their ministry and Benedictine way of life in Hawaii.
St. Francis School graduates its first co-ed senior class, May 26.
The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities announce May 31 that a new 100-bed skilled nursing facility will be built at the location of their original St. Francis Hospital in Liliha.
Chaminade University announces that its baccalaureate degree nursing program has been accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education for the maximum five-year period, up to June 30, 2018.
After 10 years away from the priesthood, diocesan priest Father Stephen Macedo returns to active ministry.

June

On June 2, the Feast of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Pope Francis calls for dioceses around the world to celebrate an hour of eucharistic adoration at 5 p.m., Rome time. Bishop Silva simultaneously holds a special holy hour with the Blessed Sacrament at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace at 5 a.m. in Hawaii.
The diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry host a three-part summer “Theology on Tap” series for young adults called “Love, Friendship and Happiness,” featuring religion and philosophy professor Pete Steiger of Chaminade University.
Philip Ganir of St. Elizabeth Church in Aiea is ordained a Jesuit priest June 8 in California. He returns to Hawaii to celebrate Mass at his home parish, June 23.
Capuchin Franciscan Father Paul L. Minchak retires after almost 30 years of parish ministry in Hawaii.
The National Park Service names Erika Stein as the new superintendent of Kalaupapa National Historic Park.
Bishop Silva is made an honorary knight of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I on June 25 in a ceremony at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.
Jayne Mondoy, director of the diocesan Office of Religious Education, is awarded the Conference Theme Award at the Diocesan Information Systems Conference (DISC) June 21 in Dallas for her department’s program that offers faith formation classes to catechists online via Facebook.

July

Father Teodulo “Teddy” Gaquit retires after serving 13 years in local hospital ministry.
The diocese hosts its first “Exodus Games,” July 6, at Sacred Hearts Academy to promote vocations.
Hawaii-born Sister Mary Elizabeth de Jesus makes her first temporary vows as a Carmelite nun at Carmel of the Holy Trinity Monastery on the grounds of St. Stephen Diocesan Center, July 16.
The Cathedral Renewal Campaign is launched July 20 in an effort to raise roughly $15 million for renovation work to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace and revitalization of its parish programs.
About two dozen Hawaii pilgrims, including Bishop Silva, travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for World Youth Day, July 23-28.

August

Chaminade University hires Helen J.D. Whippy as its new provost, her three-year term beginning Aug. 5.
The diocesan Office for Clergy hosts a workshop on Micronesian culture and ministry titled “Who is My Neighbor: Chuukese Catholic Immigrants in Hawaii,” Aug. 8 at St. Stephen Diocesan Center.
Sacred Hearts novices Jeremy Sabugo, Justin Carrigan and Michael Kamauoha make their first profession of temporary vows Aug. 10 at St. Patrick Church in Kaimuki.
Results from the independent audit on parish collections received by the diocese Aug. 22 show that less than one-fifth of the diocese’s 66 parishes fully complied with offertory counting and safeguarding guidelines.
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet celebrate the 75th anniversary of their order’s arrival in Hawaii with a thanksgiving Mass, Aug. 24 at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa.
Sister Rochelle Liu and Sister Joan Roddy of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia leave Honolulu for Tacoma, Wash., ending their order’s presence in Hawaii.
Joy Bulosan ends a four-year stint as secretary to Bishop Silva, Aug. 30. She takes on a new role as Director of Volunteer Services and Community Engagement at Catholic Charities Hawaii.

September

St. Anthony School in Kalihi celebrates its 85th anniversary.
Parishes hold special Masses and prayer services Sept. 7 to coincide with Pope Francis’ vigil in Rome calling for peace in Syria.
The diocesan Office for Social Ministry hosts four, two-hour workshops on “food insecurity,” highlighting ways parish outreach ministries can provide more sustainable, nutritious food for the poor.
The late Gus and Anna Hochuli are honored for their contributions to Catholic school scholarships at the Augustine Educational Foundation’s annual Donor Appreciation Reception, Sept. 19.
Bishop Silva hosts an evening gathering for “Catholic professionals,” the first event of its kind in the diocese, for the Year of Faith. About 30 guests from the fields of medicine, law, politics, media and education discuss their faith over food and cocktails at St. Stephen Diocesan Center, Sept. 20.
Our Lady of Good Counsel Church marks the 15th anniversary of its perpetual adoration chapel.
The diocese hires Denise Duhaylonsod Oliveira, office manager at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Ewa Beach, as the new secretary to Bishop Silva.
Big Island artist Dietrich Varez creates a new block print honoring Joseph Dutton, who served alongside St. Damien in Kalaupapa.
The mother general of the Sacred Hearts Sisters visits Hawaii from Rome with the congregation’s four councilors.
Youth and young adults from the West Honolulu vicariate take their faith to the streets Sept. 28 in the first “Crosswalk” organized by regional ministry leaders.

October

Carol Ignacio retires after serving in the diocesan Office for Social Ministry for 27 years. The diocese appoints Blessed Sacrament Father Bob Stark as the social ministry office’s new director.
The Carmelite Sisters at St. Stephen Diocesan Center mark 40 years of their ministry of prayerful solitude in Hawaii.
Bishop Silva establishes Oct. 10 a Stewardship Task Force to draft a plan for implementing the practice of spiritual giving in the diocese.
Benedictine Fathers David Barfknecht and Michael Sawyer are incardinated into the Diocese of Honolulu as part of the community’s transition to a “public association of the faithful.”
Bishop Silva celebrates the one-year anniversary of the canonization of Mother Marianne Cope with a thanksgiving Mass at Star of the Sea Church, Oct. 21.
An estimated 8,000 people, many from Catholic parishes and Christian congregations, attend an Oct. 28 rally at the state Capitol to protest the legalization of same-sex marriage.

November

Hawaii parishes celebrate the first national “Parish Religious Education Week,” Nov. 3-9.
Super Typhoon Haiyan hits the Philippines with massive destruction, Nov. 7. The Diocese of Honolulu authorizes special offertory collections to go toward storm relief.
The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities mark several milestones in November: the 150th anniversary of St. Marianne Cope’s final profession of religious vows; the 130th anniversary of the arrival in Hawaii of St. Marianne and the Franciscan Sisters; and the 120th anniversary of St. Marianne’s arrival in Kalaupapa.
St. Anthony Junior-Senior High School alum Shane Victorino and the Boston Red Sox win the 2013 Major League Baseball World Series championship.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Nov. 13 signs a bill making Hawaii the 15th state to legalize same-sex marriage.
Jerry Rauckhorst, president and CEO of Catholic Charities Hawaii, receives the Paulette V. Maehara Leadership Award from the Aloha Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Nov. 14, at the organization’s 2013 National Philanthropy Day awards banquet.
Michael Jucutan of Pearl City is ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Agana, Guam, Nov. 9. He returns to Hawaii to celebrate Mass at his home parish, Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, Nov. 17.
Bishop Silva brings back “The Bishop’s Circle” fundraising appeal.
An “Island-style” celebration at Star of the Sea Church — with food, multicultural entertainment and Mass — closes the Year of Faith on Oahu, Nov. 23. Neighbor island vicariates end the Year of Faith with a variety of events.

December

The diocesan Prison Ministry hosts its annual “Star Light, Star Bright” Christmas party at the Women’s Community Correctional Center in Kailua, Dec. 14. It is the fourth time the party is held at the prison, and the second time that families from the neighbor islands attend the event.
Bishop Silva confers the ministry of reader to 13 deacon candidates during Mass at St. Stephen Diocesan Center, Dec. 15.
After serving the Diocese of Honolulu for 14 years as a secretary with the diocesan Tribunal and diocesan archives, Nettie Lou Peiler retires Dec. 31.
Sharon Chiarucci, diocesan director of the Office of Parish Resources, retires Dec. 31 after working for the church in various ways for more than 30 years.