Sacred Hearts Father David Lupo, right, and Deacon Modesto Cordero, director of the diocesan Office of Worship, pray during the thanksgiving Mass. (HCH photo | Darlene Dela Cruz)
Many Catholic churches are noted for their historic, liturgical and architectural excellence. Some are given the special papal honor of being named basilicas.
The church has four “major” basilicas, all in Rome: the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the pope’s cathedral as Bishop of Rome; St. Peter’s Basilica, of which we are familiar; St. Mary Major; and St. Paul-outside-the-Walls. Rome also has many “minor” basilicas, and there are many more throughout the world. Now Hawaii is graced with one.
Honolulu’s Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace certainly deserves this honor. With the help of the diocesan judicial vicar Father Mark Gantley, I submitted a request to the Vatican to bestow on it this special status. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, with special authority granted by Pope Francis, declared our cathedral a minor basilica on May 10, 2014, the feast day of St. Damien.
Dedicated on Aug. 15, 1843, our cathedral is one of the oldest buildings in Honolulu and one of the oldest cathedrals in the United States. Because Aug. 15 is the feast of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the anniversary of the cathedral’s dedication is officially observed on Aug. 16.
It is the only U.S. cathedral that can claim the presence of a reigning monarch, King Kamehameha III, at the laying of its cornerstone. Two canonized saints worshipped there. Father Damien de Veuster was ordained a priest in the cathedral on May 21, 1864. Mother Marianne Cope and her Franciscan Sisters first prayed there when they arrived in Hawaii on Nov. 8, 1883.
The cathedral now enshrines the remains of St. Marianne and a relic of St. Damien. And of course, generations of faithful have gathered under its roof to celebrate their faith in Jesus Christ, to be nourished by the Word, to feast at the Eucharistic table, and to go forth to witness to Jesus.
Two symbols traditionally are displayed in a minor basilica: the ombrellino and the tintinabulum. Because a basilica is connected in a special way to the supreme pontiff, these symbols are related to the pope.
An ombrellino, or little umbrella, is a ceremonial canopy that would have been held over the pope as he entered the church. Its fabric panels are in the papal colors of red and yellow. The frame and processional pole of our umbrella were made of koa by Taufa Samisoni of Lahaina, a Tongan wood carver and craftsman. Its fabric panels were sewn by Claudette Takimoto, owner of Party Dress by Claudette. Four symbols were embroidered on the edges of the ombrellino: an image of Our Lady of Peace, my episcopal coat of arms and those of the Diocese of Honolulu and Pope Francis, who granted the basilica honor.
A tintinabulum is a bell that would have been rung to announce the pope’s arrival. Samisoni also fashioned the bell’s frame and processional pole. The setting for the bell is a heart, reminiscent of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary who brought the Catholic faith to Hawaii and built the cathedral. Carved into the heart are olive leaves honoring Our Lady of Peace. Beneath the heart are two crossed keys, symbols of the pope as the successor of St. Peter. The bell is part of a set of liturgical items given to Hawaii Bishop Gulstan Ropert in 1893, shortly after he was ordained a bishop and on the occasion of the cathedral’s 50th anniversary. The set also includes a crosier (bishop’s staff), an ornate chalice, cruets, a hand-washing pitcher and basin, and other items used by the bishop during Mass.
We are grateful to Sacred Heart Church in Honolulu and its Maryknoll School for donating the ombrellino and the tintinabulum.
We pray that this great honor bestowed on our cathedral may bring greater glory to God, a renewed faith to all who visit it, and a new dedication to our mission to give witness to Jesus.
