Recap 2015: A month-by-month review of a year in Hawaii Catholic news

By Darlene J.M. Dela Cruz
Hawaii Catholic Herald

January

• Bishop Larry Silva on Jan. 3 ordains Edwin Damien Conselva of Waipahu a priest for the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette, the first man from Hawaii ordained for the order’s Philippine province.
• Saint Louis School alum and Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota leads the Oregon University football team in the national college football championship game Jan. 12.
• Joan Rosenhauer, executive vice president of U.S. operations for Catholic Relief Services, gives the keynote address at the diocese’s annual Red Mass for local government leaders, Jan. 20 at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace.
• Local clergy from various Christian churches join Bishop Silva and more than 100 faithful in a Taize Prayer service at the Newman Center/Holy Spirit parish in Manoa on Jan. 22 for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
• Two great great nieces of St. Marianne Cope — Patricia Cope Wood of New Hampshire and Denise Cope Parry of Vermont — visit Hawaii for the saint’s Jan. 23 feast day.
• The diocesan Office of Stewardship and Development hosts its first stewardship conference on Maui, Jan. 23-24, at St. Theresa Church in Kihei and St. Anthony Church in Wailuku.
• About 300 people gather at the state Capitol Jan. 24 for Hawaii’s 42nd annual “March for Life,” marking the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision on abortion.
• At the Annual Conference for Catholic Educators Jan. 30 on Oahu, more than 800 faculty and staff members from Catholic schools gather at Sacred Hearts Academy for Mass and workshops. A relic of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was presented for veneration.
• Hawaii gains 13 new permanent deacons as Bishop Silva ordains the men of the diocese’s seventh deacon formation class in four ceremonies on three islands.

February

• More than 300 attendees at the diocese’s Oahu stewardship day, held at St. Elizabeth Church in Aiea on Feb. 7, gain ideas for practical parish giving from visiting speakers Deacon Don McArdle of Georgia, Msgr. Daniel Mueggenborg of Oklahoma and Father Michael Troha of Ohio.
• At Sacred Hearts Academy Feb. 19, Bishop Silva makes the first of his visits with local Catholic high school seniors for the annual “Bagels with Bishop” program.
• About 190 catechumens and candidates preparing to receive the sacraments on Easter Vigil sign their names into the Book of Elect during Rite of Election ceremonies across the diocese, Feb. 22.

March

• The Catholic Charities Housing Development Corporation breaks ground March 10 for Meheula Vista, a new affordable housing complex in Mililani Mauka for seniors.
• The new St. Michael Church in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island, built to replace the original 160-year-old church structure closed in 2009, is blessed and dedicated March 25.

April

• Bishop Silva announces the diocese’s plan to restore the administration of the Sacraments of Initiation to its “proper order” of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion.
• Father Mark J. Gantley, formerly of the Diocese of Syracuse, is incardinated into the Diocese of Honolulu April 15. Father Gantley is the diocese’s judicial vicar.
• Saint Louis School announces April 22 the appointment of Glenn Medeiros as the school’s president and Sione Thompson as school principal effective upon the retirement of head of school Walter Kirimitsu at the end of the academic year.
• St. Francis Healthcare System opens Phase I of its Kupuna Village senior complex in Liliha April 24.

May

• Diocesan young adult ministry coordinator Makana Aiona joins 40 other ministry leaders from around the country at the inaugural National Young Adult Ministry Summit in Washington, D.C., May 5-7.
• In New York City May 11, a 750-foot stretch of East 33rd Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues is named “Father Damien Way.”
• The “One Ohana” sacramental video series is awarded the “New Wineskins Award” by the National Conference for Catechetical Leaders. Jayne Mondoy, diocesan religious education director and part of the video production team, accepts the award May 20 at the NCCL conference in Buffalo, New York.
• Island priests gather at Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of Oahu May 18-22 for the annual Priests’ Convocation, themed “Cultivating Unity.”
• Bishop Silva ordains Honolulu native Nick Brown a priest for the Diocese of Honolulu, May 22.
• Damien Memorial School graduates its last all-male class May 24, completing its transition to a coed institution.

June

• Bishop Silva approves June 23 the statutes of the Joseph Dutton Guild, a preliminary step in promoting a possible sainthood cause for Ira “Brother Joseph” Dutton, the lay man who served alongside St. Damien of Molokai.
• The Hawaii Catholic Herald wins three journalism honors at the June 26 Catholic Media Conference Awards in Buffalo, New York.
• Father Thomas Gross, former administrator for the Diocese of Honolulu, retires June 30.

July

• Bishop Silva issues July 20 a “General Decree on the Use of Hula in the Liturgy.”
• Hundreds of Island faithful celebrate the 10th anniversary of Bishop Silva’s episcopate with a Mass of thanksgiving at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa, July 21.
• Hawaii Catholic Schools launches a new website as part of a refreshed marketing effort.

August

• Sister Cheryl Wint makes her perpetual vows as a Sister of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities on Aug. 2 at St. Augustine Church in Waikiki.
• The Hawaii Catholic Schools office hosts its first-ever “Pastors/Principals Summit” after the annual Mass of the Holy Spirit for Catholic educators at St. Ann Church in Kaneohe, Aug. 20.

September

• Bishop Silva approves Sept. 8 an 11-page “Diocesan Guidelines for Lectors” drafted by the Office of Worship.
• Nine Island pilgrims travel with Bishop Silva on a diocesan pilgrimage to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families and Pope Francis’ U.S. visit, Sept. 20-28.
• A statue of St. Marianne Cope by Maui sculptor Dale Zarrella is presented to and blessed by Pope Francis Sept. 23 in Washington, D.C.
• Diocesan seminarian Preston Castro is selected by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, to be his personal guest at Pope Francis’ address to a joint meeting of Congress, Sept. 24.
• The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities make available third-class relics of St. Marianne Cope, pieces of white cloth that touched the remains of the saint.
• “HICatholic,” a hub of digital resources for diocesan young adult ministry, is launched.

October

• Young adults from the West Honolulu vicariate participate in Mass and clean-up at the Catholic Cemetery on King Street Oct. 7.
• Daughters of St. Paul assigned in Honolulu celebrate the 100th anniversary of the order’s founding with a Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, Oct. 25.
• The diocesan Office for Social Ministry hosts a “Housewarming Party” Oct. 31 at the Kamiano Center to serve veterans transitioning from homelessness to newfound housing.

November

• The Big Island Liturgy and Arts Conference, BILAC, marks its 40th anniversary Nov. 5. BILAC leaders announce that the conference name will be changed to Hawaiian Islands Liturgy and Arts Conferences, or HILAC.
• A Nov. 10 “Veteran Stand Down and Job Fair” organized by the diocesan Office for Social Ministry provides vets with free medical services, clothing, food and employment resources.
• Sacred Hearts Church in Lanai City celebrates the marriage convalidations of seven couples from the parish in a Nov. 10 Mass with Bishop Silva.
• The diocese hosts on several islands informational sessions on newly revised guidelines for “Maintaining Sacramental Registers.”

December

• Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities in Hawaii are told Dec. 3 by the order’s leadership in Syracuse that the Franciscan convent in Manoa will be closed and its resident nuns moved to a retirement home in Pearl City. On Dec. 15, the order reaches an agreement to forego the move.
• Bishop Silva and the Office of Pastoral Planning unveil Dec. 4 a new five-year pastoral plan for the diocese called “Stewards of the Gospel.”
• The Jubilee Year of Mercy opens in the Islands Dec. 8 with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Silva at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace. The bishop on Dec. 13 opens the “Door of Mercy” at the cathedral.
• The diocesan prison ministry on Dec. 12 hosts its annual “Star Light, Star Bright” Christmas party, reuniting inmates and their families at the Women’s Community Correctional Center in Kailua.