Big Pentecost is here: after three years preparing, the diocese will begin to give confirmation second graders

By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald

After more than three years of preparation, the Diocese of Honolulu will begin this month to give the sacrament of confirmation to children in the second grade instead of adolescents. It is a move to correct the order in which the sacraments of initiation — baptism, confirmation and Holy Eucharist — are given.

Thirty-two of Hawaii’s 66 parishes and Catholic ethnic communities will make the change this year during Masses over the Pentecost Sunday weekend, May 19-20.

Parish priests, delegated by Bishop Larry Silva, will confirm all those in the second grade and older, a total of more than 3,700 children. After that, confirmation in the second grade before first Holy Communion will become the norm.

The diocese has dubbed this weekend “Big Pentecost.”

The rest of Hawaii’s parishes are scheduled to make the same transition over the next two years.

Bishop Silva announced these changes in April 2015 to parents, clergy and religious educators in a letter that introduced a series of five articles in the Hawaii Catholic Herald explaining the plan.

The articles described how the sacraments historically lost their original order and, as a result, how the sacrament of confirmation had come to be misunderstood.

“Confirmation is often experienced more as a graduation from the church than as a free gift of God’s grace” that naturally followed baptism, the bishop wrote.

Because of the “graduation” mentality, they leave the church, he said.

To further instruct Hawaii Catholics about the plan, the diocese scheduled nine 90-minute “listening sessions” on all islands in the summer and fall of 2015, presented by diocesan leaders in theology, religious education and youth ministry.

The bishop made the change official on Jan. 10, 2016, with a full set of directives entitled “Decree of Promulgation” for the “Norms for the Preparation for and Celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation and First Penance.”

Essential to the change in confirmation age is the adoption by each parish of a “comprehensive” youth ministry to replace existing high school-level confirmation preparation programs. Those programs typically comprise two years of classes, community service and retreats, usually from the ninth through 10th grade. These activities will now be incorporated into youth ministry.

According to the diocesan Office of Worship, 3,768 children and youth will be confirmed statewide on May 20 — 2,820 on Oahu, 465 on the Big Island, 137 on Kauai, 298 on Maui and 48 on Molokai.

By comparison, the 2017 Official Catholic Directory reported 1,200 confirmations in the diocese last year.

Thirteen other U.S. dioceses, out of 195, have made the move back to the “original order” of the sacraments of initiation.

Participating parishes

Here is the corrected list of parishes, and their missions, participating in “Big Pentecost” this year. (There were errors and omissions in the list published in the May 4 Hawaii Catholic Herald.)

Group 1: 2018

Oahu

• Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa, Honolulu
• Mystical Rose Oratory, St. Louis/Chaminade
• Our Lady of the Mount, Kalihi Valley
• Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Ewa Beach
• Our Lady of Good Counsel, Pearl City
• Resurrection of the Lord, Waipio
• Sacred Heart, Punahou
• St. Pius X, Manoa
• St. Anthony, Kalihi
• St. Anthony, Kailua
• St. Augustine, Waikiki
• St. Elizabeth, Aiea
• St. John Apostle and Evangelist, Mililani
• St. John the Baptist, Kalihi
• St. John Vianney, Kailua
• St. Jude, Kapolei
• St. Stephen, Nuuanu
• Sts. Peter and Paul, Honolulu
• Vietnamese Catholic Community, Honolulu

Big Island

• Annunciation, Waimea
  • Ascension Mission Mission, Puako
• Our Lady of Lourdes, Honokaa
• Sacred Heart, Hawi
• St. Benedict, Honaunau
  • St. John the Baptist Mission, Kealakekua
• St. Joseph, Hilo
• St. Michael, Kailua-Kona
  • Immaculate Conception Mission, Holualoa
  • Holy Rosary Mission, Kalaoa
  • St. Paul Mission, Honalo
  • St. Peter by the Sea Mission, Kahaluu
• St. Theresa, Mountain View
  • Holy Rosary Mission, Keaau

Kauai

• St. Catherine, Kapaa
  • St. Sylvester Mission, Kilauea
  • St. William Mission, Hanalei
• St. Theresa, Kekaha
  • Sacred Hearts Mission, Waimea

 Maui

• Maria Lanakila
  • Sacred Hearts Mission, Kapalua
• Our Lady Queen of Angels, Kula
  • Holy Ghost Mission, Waiakoa
  • St. James the Less Mission, Ulupalakua
• St. Joseph, Makawao
• St. Theresa, Kihei

Molokai

• St. Damien of Molokai, Kaunakakai
  • St. Vincent Ferrer Mission, Maunaloa
  • Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Mission, Kaluaaha
  • St. Joseph Mission, Kamalo

Group 2 (2019)

Oahu

• Holy Trinity, Kuliouou
• Immaculate Conception, Ewa
• Korean Catholic Community, Manoa
• Mary, Star of the Sea, Waialae-Kahala
• Our Lady of Sorrows, Wahiawa
• Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Waikane
• St. Ann, Kaneohe
• St. George, Waimanalo
• Newman Center/Holy Spirit, UH-Manoa
• St. Michael, Waialua
  • Sts. Peter and Paul Mission, Waimea Bay

Big Island

• Holy Rosary, Pahala
• Sacred Heart, Naalehu

Kauai

• Holy Cross, Kalaheo
  • Sacred Heart Mission, Eleele
• St. Raphael
• Immaculate Conception, Lihue

Maui

• Christ the King, Kahului
• Holy Rosary, Paia
• St. Ann, Waihee
  • St. Francis Mission, Kahakuloa
• St. Rita, Haiku
  • St. Gabriel Mission, Keanae
• St. Anthony, Wailuku

Lanai

• Sacred Hearts, Lanai City

Group 3 (2020)

Oahu

• Blessed Sacrament, Pauoa Valley
• Holy Family, Honolulu
• Sacred Heart, Waianae
• St. Philomena, Salt Lake
• St. Joseph, Waipahu
• St. Patrick, Kaimuki
• St. Rita, Nanakuli
• St. Roch, Kahuku
  • St. Joachim Mission, Punaluu

Big Island

• Malia Puka O Kalani, Keaukaha
• Immaculate Heart of Mary, Papaikou
• Good Shepherd, Honomu
• Sacred Heart, Pahoa
• St. Anthony, Laupahoehoe

Maui

• St. Mary, Hana
  • St. Peter Mission, Puuiki
  • St. Paul Mission, Kipahulu
  • St. Joseph Mission, Kaupo