The Aug. 29 funeral Mass for Deacon Julio Akapito, on a bright and sunny Saturday in St. Joseph Church in Hilo, was an enormous outpouring of prayer and celebration from the Big Island’s Chuukese Catholic community and other Pacific islanders.
Nine days of prayer at the Akapito family home in Pahoa preceded the funeral. Hard rains could not dampen the beauty of the rituals. Large canopies covered the lanai and backyard of the Akapito home so that no one would be excluded. Attending were people of other faiths, long-ago friends and distant relatives.
Leading the rosary each night were the ladies of the Chuuk Legion of Mary attired in simple, white dresses and sitting on mats in front of an altar adorned with flowers and decorated with pictures of the Divine Mercy image of Jesus.
Each night, after the rosary and other prayers, community elders talked about important cultural values brought from Micronesia to Hawaii. The talks and prayers were punctuated by songs and mournful laments. Family members also spoke. Amazingly, they asked the community to forgive past failings and misunderstandings. These heartfelt calls for atonement, mercy and healing were remarkable manifestations of the Gospel and the sacramental life of the Catholic community of Chuukese.
A sumptuous, community meal concluded each novena. The Holy Spirit was evident in the rich and faith-filled prayer life of the community.
Bishop Larry Silva presided at the funeral liturgy, assisted by Jesuit Father Michael Scully, Father Konelio Faletoi and Father Stephen Macedo. Nine permanent deacons vested and served, including the homilist Deacon Celestino Emwalu, and Clarence DeCaires, Hawaii director of permanent deacons.
The readings and homily at the funeral Mass were delivered in the Chuukese language. The St. Joseph Church choir, augmented by the Chuuk choir, led the singing.
Highlighting the singing of the Chuuk choir was a carefully choreographed offertory procession. Ten of Deacon Julio’s nieces and nephews, all young adults, reverently carried the gifts forward accompanied by chants and a song composed by Camarillus Akapito, one of Deacon Julio’s late brothers. The song used powerful and respectful gestures to express the tradition of offering the fruits of the first harvest to the island chief.
Vidalino Raatior, director of the Pacific Islander Student Center at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and a leader in Hilo’s Chuukese Catholic community, said Deacon Julio dreamed of “unifying all Chuukese people in Hawaii of all faiths to engage in self-empowerment based on our own understanding of our real needs … not the perceived needs from non-Chuukese service providers, politicians, researchers and the media.”
Raatior quoted the deacon from one of their inter-faith Chuukese leadership gatherings: “Only we Chuukese know our real needs and the needs of our children here in Hawaii. We need to find out from ourselves what those needs are and then work together as one Chuukese family of all faiths to address those needs. We cannot continue to depend on others to solve our problems for us; we must work together to help ourselves.”
That was the kind of leadership he had for his Chuukese people, Raatior said. “He tried to unite all the Chuukese church leaders to work together for our people.”
