Father Scott Bush
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Diocesan priest Father Scott R. Bush, after more than 25 years of parish ministry, mostly on the Big Island, retired from active ministry on Jan. 1. He had been a parochial vicar at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Honolulu since July 1, 2017.
Father Bush, 67, described his stepping down as a “health” retirement, but told the Hawaii Catholic Herald that he believes he has a “lot more years to give” on a less rigorous, part-time basis.
He will be living at the rectory of the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in downtown Honolulu where he will assist by celebrating Masses and offering his hand at other pastoral duties.
Previous assignments for Father Bush were as a parochial vicar or pastor at Sacred Hearts Parish in Naalehu, Big Island; Holy Rosary Parish in Pahala, Big Island; St. Joseph Parish, Hilo; Malia Puka O Kalani, Keaukaha, Big Island; Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Ewa Beach, and at St. George Church, Waimanalo.
Reflecting last year on his 25th anniversary of his priestly ordination, he said, “What do I love most as a priest? My love for the people I serve” and, he joked, “the pork adobo and lechon they feed me.”
Father Bush added that he loved, the “joyful surprise” of his second grade teacher Sister Raymond Gerard upon seeing “her inquisitive, energetic, ‘kolohe’ student all grown up and serving as her parish priest and pastor!”
Father Bush, who is of Hawaiian, English and Portuguese ethnicity, is the son of George and Priscilla Bush. He has a brother George and a sister Carol. Growing up on Oahu, he attended St. Anthony School in Kalihi and Maryknoll Grade School before enrolling at Saint Louis High School, graduating in 1968.
He went to Seattle University where he received his bachelor of arts degree. He returned to the islands to earn a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Hawaii.
After graduation, he worked for a while on the Big Island in the moving business. It was there that he became active in the church, rekindling a childhood desire to become a priest.
Father Bush entered St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, California, in 1986, and was ordained a priest on June 6, 1992.
