Top row from left, Father Romple Emwalu is congratulated with the “fraternal kiss of peace” by Sacred Hearts Father Lane Akiona. Bishop Silva lays hands on Vincent Vu in the solemn act of ordination. Fathers Emwalu and Vu distribute Communion. Bottom left, Bishop Silva anoints Father Vu’s hands with sacred chrism. Bottom center, Father Vu’s parents Phuong Thi Nguyen and Son Vu. (HCH photos | Anna Weaver)
Clockwise from top left, Caroline Islands Coadjutor Bishop Julio Angkel lays hands on Emwalu. Micronesian attendees at the ordination Mass. Emwalu during the laying on of hands by fellow priests. The two priest candidates lie on mats during the Litany of Supplication. (HCH photos | Anna Weaver) More photos here.
Bishop Silva ordains two island priests in a big, joyful, colorful family liturgy
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
The twin ordinations of Romple Emwalu and Vincent Ahn Vu to priesthood by Bishop Larry Silva was a big, joyful, family event that packed the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa Friday evening May 17 with color, song, tradition, emotion … and lots and lots of people.
The ethnic communities of both men showed up in force, the Pacific island Micronesian Chuukese for Emwalu and the southeast Asian Vietnamese for Vu.
Before Mass, Vu was at the side entrance door of the co-cathedral greeting early-arriving friends and family members.
“Right now I am feeling very excited, as we wait … before getting ordained,” he said.
Vu, 29, said he was “asking for prayers, especially for myself and for Deacon Romple. We are making a big step in life so we are asking for a lot of prayers.”
Emwalu, in St. Theresa’s sacristy an hour before the start of Mass, was calm and relaxed.
“I am trying just to have a peaceful moment interiorly. That is what I am trying to focus on right now,” he said.
As a prelude to the Mass, the 30-member Vietnamese choir sang tightly rehearsed hymns that were solemn and joyful. The Chuukese choir, which seemed to be comprised of all the Chuukese in the pews, sang a bright rhythmic melody to recorded accompaniment.
Co-cathedral pastor Father Gregorio Honorio estimated an overflow attendance of 1,480.
Mass began with the crash of a Vietnamese gong, followed by exuberant pounding on festival drums by teens Andrew Le and Len Nguyen and their teacher.
It took seven minutes for the dozen seminarian altar servers, 30 deacons, 90 priests and two bishops to process up the aisle to the altar as the choir led verse upon verse of “Laudate, Laudate Dominum” — “Praise, Praise the Lord.”
“Peace be with you,” Bishop Silva said, addressing the congregation. “This is a much anticipated day! A day of great joy!”
The liturgy was quadrilingual if you count the Latin hymns.
The Scripture readings were read by brothers of the men being ordained, the first in Chuukese by Atlast Emwalu, the second in Vietnamese by Phap Vu.
Following the Gospel, the ordination rite proceeded with its ancient rituals, words, gestures and symbols.
“Let those to be ordained priest come forward,” a deacon pronounced, calling the candidates by name. Each answered with a firm “Present.”
Father Rheo Ofalsa, the diocesan director of vocations, speaking to the bishop, made the formal request for ordination: “Most reverend father, Holy Mother Church asks you to ordain these to the responsibility of the priesthood.”
The bishop asked if they were worthy.
(HCH Photo | Anna Weaver)
Applause and cheers
Assured that they were, he said, “Relying on the help of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, we choose Ahn and Romple, our brothers, for the order of the priesthood.”
The congregation responded, “Thanks be to God” adding enthusiastic applause and cheers.
Bishop Silva spoke his homily directly to the two young priestly candidates. “You are very blessed men,” he said, citing all who had brought them to this point, their “beautiful families,” teachers, seminarians, deacons, priests and the “holy people of God gathered here with great excitement.”
The bishop told them that they have been chosen to feed a people “hungry” for God’s word.
“From this day forward,” he said, “it is your solemn duty and great joy to consecrate the Body of Christ.”
“This all sounds so glorious and glamorous, but I assure you, this is very hard work,” he said.
“You are very blessed men, Romple and Ahn, and now the Lord will bless us even more abundantly through you.”
After his homily, Bishop Silva questioned the two kneeling together in front of him, asking of them five priestly pledges, to each of which they answered, “I do.” He then asked them separately to promise “respect and obedience” to him and his successors.
Emwalu and Vu lay prostrate face down in front of the altar as the assembly prayed in chant to a long list of saints for their intercession.
Then, in the solemn act of ordination, Bishop Silva silently placed his hands first on Vu’s head, then on Emwalu’s, ordaining them priests.
Each of the 90 priests in the sanctuary followed in turn, laying their hands on the newly ordained in a quiet procession that lasted nearly 15 minutes, while the assembly sang “Veni Creator Spiritus.”
Bishop Silva then chanted the “Prayer of Ordination” over the two men, after which the newly ordained were vested in the priest’s stole and chasuble, the outer liturgical garment, plus several leis.
Bishop Silva anointed their hands with holy Chrism, carried in a calabash carved from wood from the islands’ first kiawe tree planted by Hawaii’s first Catholic missionaries, and passed to them the bread and wine that would be used for the Mass, symbolizing their authority to celebrate the Eucharist.
Vicar general Msgr. Gary Secor gives the fraternal kiss of peace to Father Emwalu. (HCH Photo | Anna Weaver)
Kiss of peace
The ordination complete, the bishop sealed the rite with the fraternal kiss of peace, a full two-armed embrace of each new priest that set off another round of applause and cheering. The concelebrating priests followed suit, some exchanging brief words, some kissing the new priests’ hands.
During this exchange, the Vietnamese choir sang a hymn in crisp harmonies, which was followed by a sunny Chuukese song.
For the rest of the Mass, Father Romple stood to Bishop Silva’s right at the altar, Father Vu on his left, both assisting him in the recitation of the eucharistic prayer.
After Communion, each gave the bishop their first priestly blessing. Addressing the congregation, Father Vu listed acknowledgments on behalf of himself and Father Emwalu, after which both gave brief remarks in their own first languages.
Bishop Julio Angkel. (HCH Photo | Anna Weaver)
Bishop Julio Angkel, the coadjutor bishop of Emwalu’s former home diocese of the Caroline Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, was a surprise guest at the ordination, along with four Chuukese priests.
Emwalu, 37, was born on Polowat, the western-most island in the Federated States of Micronesia’s State of Chuuk.
“He is such a great, wonderful man,” Bishop Angkel told the Hawaii Catholic Herald. “We would have enjoyed having him be a part of our diocese.”
But he said that the new priest “will be very helpful for the people of our (Micronesian) diocese who are in Honolulu. So we are indeed grateful for that.”
He also expressed gratitude to Bishop Silva for investing in Emwalu’s seminary schooling.
Deacon Celestino Emwalu, Father Emwalu’s stepfather, who is assigned to Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Wahiawa, laughed that his son, with his ordination to the priesthood, has “passed me (a permanent deacon) on the fast lane.”
“I am very proud of him,” he said.
The deacon, who has 20 children, said he was also very happy that the ordination was an occasion for a big family reunion.
Shortly before Mass started, Vu’s youngest sister, Nguyet Anh “Annie” Vu, paused to offer a few thoughts about her brother who was born in Vietnam and immigrated to Hawaii with his family in 2002.
“I am excited for him,” she said. “It has been a long road.”
Close in age, she said they graduated from high school together after which “he went straight into Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon.” Before that, she had not known of his desire to pursue the priesthood. Both had been very active in Honolulu’s Vietnamese Holy Martyrs Catholic Community, as members of the Eucharistic Club and as altar servers.
Annie said her brother would return every year to help with these youth ministries.
(HCH Photo: Anna Weaver)
White signifies happiness
Many of the Chuukese wore white T-shirts with silkscreened artwork and messages, some with a photo of Father Emwalu in a Roman collar. Women wore long skirts and the men wore a red version of a lavalava called a thu.
The white of the shirts signify “happiness,” said Lee Emwalu, a younger brother of Romple who was there from Vancouver, Washington.
“This is a big celebration,” he said, “a huge, huge ceremony for us. Once in a lifetime.”
He said that his parents made the yellow, red, orange, black and green bead leis that the Micronesians wore on their heads and around their necks.
“I am excited to be here,” said Blake Onopei Guest, a hapa-Chuukese from Kekaha, Kauai, and one of Romple’s cousins. Wearing a white shirt and red thu, he was with another cousin Pete Benito and about two dozen others similarly dressed. “I don’t even know all my cousins,” he said, gesturing to the others. He said they had come in from Guam, Washington state, Oregon, Iowa, the neighbor islands and other places.
“This is definitely an experience,” he said.
Vu’s family and friends (HCH Photo | Anna Weaver)
Vu’s father, Son Vu, greeted people in a traditional Vietnamese tunic, the only one gold-colored to signify that he was the father of the one being ordained.
“I’m very happy,” he said, before the start of Mass, “and a little bit anxious” that things will go right.
Many of the Vietnamese women wore the ao dai, the traditional, long, draped gown.
Six sisters of the Oblates of Jesus the Priest, members of the staff of St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, California, where the two priests had studied, were making their first trip together to Hawaii. One of them, Sister Amada Hernandez, smiled when asked why they had come. They’re “nice guys,” she said.
