Happy to be back

Hawaii pastors and administrators report that the reopening of Hawaii’s Catholic churches for Mass May 30-31 went smoothly for the most part thanks to plenty of planning, masking tape, sanitizing liquid, faith and aloha. Here are their reports.

Immaculate Conception, Ewa

The reopening for public Masses went well. I did see a lot fewer parishioners than I usually see due to the social distancing. Since most of the parish is elderly, I suspect most of them are still afraid to come back due to their age as well as for the children. We had a lot fewer families with children this weekend. The reservation system, I think, confused some people since Eventbrite terminology says “buy a ticket” when we are saying “make a reservation.” There were still a few walk-ins who we were able to accommodate since some people who made reservations did not show up. Mostly we were just thankful for being able to come back and worship as a community, despite the social distancing.

—Father Nick Brown

St. Jude, Kapolei

We kept the regular schedule of the Masses for the weekend. We averaged 100 people per Mass.

—Father Khanh Hoang

Resurrection of the Lord, Waipio

Everything flowed smoothly and people were happy to be back in the church. Parishioners were appreciative of our efforts to make attending Mass as safe as possible. Our usher teams did a fantastic job! Everyone was understanding, cooperative and patient with the new protocols. In spite of the physical distancing and requirement to wear face coverings, there was still a sense of prayerfulness and joy at Mass, and we will continue to find ways to improve the experience for our parishioners.

—Father William Kunisch

Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa, Honolulu

We had five Masses and an average of 80 each in attendance. The process went smoothly from entering to exiting after the celebration, the sanitation after each Mass and the performance of all assigned volunteers. Generally, people followed the protocols. Liturgical volunteers seemed excited to talk to each other, but it all went well.

—Father Manny Hewe

St. Theresa, Mountain View

The re-opening of churches this Pentecost was welcome news to our parishioners. There were a good number who took part in the worship service. However, there was one parishioner who sent this email: “Attending the Mass yesterday after so long without it was not exactly a pleasant experience. I felt like I was in a government-controlled church being ordered around as if we were 4-year-old children. It’s bad enough to endure when buying food. But in God’s house as well?”

—Father Samuel Loterte

Holy Trinity, Kuliouou

Our re-opening was successful without any glitches. The worship/gathering space moved from the church building to our gymnasium to accommodate more people. A reservation system, written by parishioner Debbie Kula, was flawless in design and implementation. Our attendance is down almost 50% but donations have been steady with 52% income being received since our closing. Regarding our “absences,” there was a sharp decline in our elder parishioners and only a handful of children present for the weekend Masses. An organized system of welcoming, hand-sanitizing, seating of parishioners and a thorough disinfecting between each Mass (we are using a micro-fogging system), all enabled a safe and respectful place of worship. Many weeks of planning allowed us to resume our community worship, and in spite of the masks, I could detect many smiling and appreciative faces. The celebration of Pentecost was truly a “Holy Spirit experience!”

—Father Mike Dalton, OFMCap

St. Theresa, Kihei

Our Masses went very well. The preparation was harder than the actual day. We had a 5 p.m. Mass on Saturday followed by our Hispanic Mass at 7 p.m. with Father Ornoldo Cherrez. About 60-plus came to our Saturday Mass, about 80 people to our 7 a.m., a full house at the 9:30 a.m. and about 30 people at noon. Our church can normally seat 500. Social distancing only allows 100 per service. We used Eventbrite and that worked very well. It produced a list of those attending each Mass. This is important in case someone gets sick and they need to do contact tracing. We were very pleased with how everyone followed the ushers’ instructions. Communion went well and those who usually received on the tongue, received it in the hand. The dismissal went well also. The ushers dismissed people from the back pews to the front, and the priest exited last, preventing people from stopping to talk to him. There was no congregating in the front of the church or in the parking lot.

—Msgr. Terrence A. M. Watanabe

St. Michael, Waialua

The power of the Holy Spirit was with our two churches when we opened the doors for public Masses. We have one vigil Mass and two Sunday Masses at St. Michael, and one Sunday Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul Mission. St. Michael has a seating capacity of 64, and at the mission, a seating capacity of 30. Generally, all went smoothly with a lot of ministers wanting to help at each Mass. All protocols and guidelines were followed, although there were some hiccups, but it was manageable with room for improvements.

—Father Ernesto Juarez

Our Lady of Good Counsel, Pearl City

The reopening went very well with great professional efficiency and love. Our COVID-19 task force organized admission to the church and seating very well. With the staff and hired hands through PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) we were able to keep the church and pastoral center disinfected and sanitized. The school principal helped set up the online sign-up for parishioners to attend Mass. Both places were arranged for social distancing, allowing families to sit together. It went very smoothly and comfortably. I had added two extra Masses, but there was not a high demand for them, so I canceled them for the next weeks. If the need arises I can bring them back. I was proud of the COVID-19 task force, ushers, lectors, eucharistic ministers, altar servers and music ministry. Everyone worked hand-in-hand to make Pentecost a great day of encountering the Lord of the Eucharist with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Parishioners welcomed with joy the reopening of the church for worship and prayers.

—Father Santhosh Thottankara, SSCC

St. John the Baptist, Kalihi

We celebrated our Masses with good participation. In general, people followed the protocols with great responsibility and awareness of the need for self-care. It was a great experience to be together again as a family, although in a slightly different way, but feeling the warmth as brothers and sisters in Christ.

—Father Diego Restrepo

St. Damien of Molokai, Kaunakakai

We were not ready yet to reopen this past weekend. We still had to get and train ushers and cleaners. We will resume Masses starting June 2.

—Father Brian Guerrini, SSCC

Sacred Heart, Waianae

We tried our best to do the necessary preparations for the reopening of the church. Everybody wore masks and insisted on social distancing, even family members, except those with children under 7. The reopening of the church with the celebration of the Solemnity of Pentecost was really meaningful. Generally, protocol was observed properly with the help of the COVID-19 task force, the crisis management ministry and the liturgy committee and some volunteers. Markings in the church were in place, disinfecting before and after every Mass was done by our volunteers, hand sanitizers were provided, and more. We had the anticipated Mass on Saturday at 5 p.m., four Masses on Sunday, including one added to accommodate the attending parishioners. It was a little tiring but I was also happy to serve with patience the parishioners’ anxious desire for the sacrament of the Eucharist. It has been wonderful being together. Let us continue to pray together and for one another. Despite the pain of being away from the sacraments, let us pray for healing, peace and good health.

—Father Santiago Agoo

Christ the King, Kahului

We formed a committee to prepare for the reopening of the church. People were told to come to the parish hall to register and receive tickets with seat numbers, color-coded for each Mass. Ushers were given the list of people coming and their seat numbers. A ticket is good for one month, after which it can be renewed by calling the office. Six Masses were celebrated including an extra one in the hall. It went very well with a total of 300 attending. We also celebrated an extra Mass in the hall for the 2020 graduates. Six high school and two college graduates wearing caps and gowns were accompanied by family members. So it went very well.

—Father Augustine Uthuppu, MS

Sacred Heart, Pahoa

We opted to “officially” re-open on June 7. Our parish re-opening task force needs ample time for communication (many are kupunas and are non-technical), training volunteers to implement “peacefully” the guidelines, procuring sanitation materials (almost all merchandise on the Big Island is imported).

—Father John Molina

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Ewa Beach

The reopening went well. We had our usual five weekend Masses. We normally use 540 chairs in our church. To maintain social distancing we removed 411 chairs leaving only 129. The average occupancy of the five Masses was 80% of the 129 seats. Our parishioners were very cooperative and patient. We used Eventbrite for reservations but with options for parishioners to call in or walk in the parish office if they have no access to computers or are not tech-savvy. To accommodate a possible increase in daily Mass-goers, we added a 7 p.m. daily Mass in addition to the regular 8:15 a.m. Thirty-eight attended our daily Mass today, but only 10 last night. We livestreamed the Saturday 5 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. and continue to livestream our daily morning Mass. I thank my parochial vicar, the parish staff and many stewards who came to prepare for and serve during the Masses celebrating Pentecost.

—Father Edmundo Barut

Sacred Heart, Hawi

A total of 182 came to attend my three Masses — 56 attended the anticipated, 84 came to the Sunday 7 a.m. Mass and 42 to the 9:30 a.m. Mass. All Masses were held in St. Damien Hall because the church can accommodate only 44 people. Hopefully, we will stay in the hall until June 14, after which we can go back to the church. I told parishioners the following options: 1. To stick to their usual time; 2. Go to the 9:30 a.m. Mass; 3. Open another Mass on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m., but the problem is manpower (choir, altar servers etc.); 4. Or stay in the hall until the pandemic ends.

—Father Elias Escanilla

St. John Vianney, Kailua

We reopened doors to the faithful on Pentecost weekend with 315 individuals in assembly for four Masses from Saturday to Sunday, and a couple hundred more parishioners spiritually connected through Mass on the parish’s YouTube channel. Planning for seating in the church and adjacent lanai was made easy with a reservation system through Eventbrite’s online ticketing platform, phone reservations, and having available space to accommodate walk-ins. It was a great weekend, with many ministers and volunteers happy to lend a hand to help clean the church, making for a joyful reunion of our parish family and community with smiles, shakas and sharing around the Communion table!

—Father Peter Miti

Annunciation, Waimea

It felt so good to open the doors and worship together again! It was a first come, first served basis and we didn’t have to turn anyone away. The 5 p.m. Saturday Mass had double the parishioners than the two Sunday Masses. Compared to normal, it was very low. With social distancing, Saturday was about 90% full while the two Sunday Masses were 40-50% capacity. Because of social distancing, we can only seat less than a third of our usual occupancy. We added a Sunday Mass in Waimea until our mission church in Puako opens June 14. We used volunteers to spray sanitizer on the hands of those arriving. After Mass, volunteers sanitized the pews, chairs, door handles, etc. The restrooms were cleaned by members of the church cleaning ministry.

—Father Rico Bernadez,

St. Anthony, Kalihi

We had all our regular five weekend Masses. The reopening went well. We made sure that all the safety measures are announced and we even mailed a copy of the directives to parishioners. We organized a task force to look into the order of the in-and-out of the celebration and it went very well. We are very thankful to our volunteers. It was a very emotional and joyful reopening.

—Father Arnel Soriano

Holy Rosary, Paia

We tried our best as one community to prepare the reopening of the church for the public celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Information regarding the reopening of the church was sent out through the mail. We asked who was coming to Mass on the Solemnity of Pentecost and the time they were coming. We followed the directives given by the diocese and the protocol given by the government: masks, six feet distancing, hand washing and sanitizing and making a system for contact tracing. Most of the faithful came for the celebration of the Solemnity of Pentecost. A sense of fulfillment, an atmosphere of hope and a thirst for God is evident to everyone. Truly, the Holy Spirit guided each one and led everybody to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. It has been a wonderful experience coming together.

—Father Jojo Alnas

St. Ann, Kaneohe

Reopening went fairly well. Our staff was a great help in planning and the parishioners got right into it. Attendance was fairly good. Social distancing is a challenge, not so much when people are stationary but in the moving parts, like the Communion procession. Sanitizing after Mass effectively and efficiently is a continuous learning. We did add one Mass on Sunday morning. We will assess the need for that over the next few weeks. Yesterday, Tuesday, we had a meeting to assess the weekend and see where we could improve. The directions over the past few weeks from various diocesan offices have been a great help as were the two videos. I’ve been emailing parishioners twice a week and we were able to get those links out to everyone on the email list as well as post them on our website.

—Father Rich McNally, SSCC

Mary, Star of the Sea, Waialae-Kahala

Thanks be to God that finally we ended something like a sacramental famine on Pentecost Sunday. I called a meeting of parish leaders several days before Sunday to prepare for the opening of the church. We made an inventory of the supplies and ordered more. Prior to closing the church in March, we were already disinfecting the church after each Holy Mass. We called on those volunteers to disinfect the church. For the opening, we placed hand sanitizers at strategic locations inside the church, and put tape on the floor and pews to mark where people can sit and line up for communion. Ushers assisted parishioners during Communion. Liturgical ministers followed the guidelines of the CDC and the diocese. We kept our usual number of Holy Masses — six. A total of 304 parishioners came to celebrate the Eucharist, an average of 50 per Mass. After every celebration, we asked for volunteers to disinfect the church. We also used UV lights after the last Sunday Eucharist to further disinfect the church. Our church is now open every day for private prayer. We returned to our daily schedule of 4 p.m. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament followed by Vespers (Evening Prayer) and Benediction. Praying the rosary follows and then the Holy Mass at 5:30 p.m. We also resumed celebrating the Eucharist at 6:30 a.m. followed by Lauds (Morning Prayer) and at 5:30 p.m. every day. We now have it in the main church instead of the chapel so that we can follow the protocols for everyone’s health and safety.

—Father Francisco De Los Reyes, SSS

Holy Cross, Kalaheo

Our Masses went smoothly, there were no major problems encountered. For those attending, sufficient seating was available within the new social distancing layout and they also complied agreeably with the new norms. The 9:45 a.m. Mass was live streamed.

–Father Danilo Galang, MS

St. Philomena, Salt Lake

Our first reopen in-person Masses went as well as expected. Before the weekend, I put the news of our reopening on our online bulletin, website and Facebook page. I also mailed a letter to each family in my parish, more than 1,000, to inform them that the Mass would be opening to the public again and to express our love and concern for them. I also made a tutorial video for people to watch before they came back to the church. I did not use any system to manage attendance. We have enough room. Also, we estimated only one third of our regular parishioners would return due to COVID-19. It went just as we expected. A total of 213 people showed up for Pentecost Sunday, about one third our normal count. I purchased disinfectant solutions, microfiber towels and nitrile gloves, and asked for six volunteers after each Mass to disinfect the pews, door knobs and other common areas. It went smoothly and well.

—Father Paul Li

Our Lady of the Mount, Kalihi Valley

We sent notices to our people about the May 30-31 resumption of public Masses through email, telephone calls, texts, the parish bulletin, myParish.app, the parish website and by word of mouth. We followed the guidelines issued by the diocese through the bishop and the Office of Worship as regards protocols such as observing safe-distancing, wearing masks, using sanitizers, staying home if they’re sick, and told them about joining the televised Mass or the ongoing live-streaming of our Mass. We ordered sanitizers, disinfectants, nitrile gloves, and extra face masks for our parishioners. Volunteers marked the six-foot distancing and disinfected the pews, kneelers, furniture and inside walls of the church, and emptied and cleaned the holy water and baptismal fonts. We removed the Mass books and hymnals and lessened the decorative plants inside the sanctuary. We prepared the choir loft and the adjacent parish hall for additional seating with a TV monitor so we wouldn’t have to turn away anyone. We didn’t get the usual number of Mass-goers in both Saturday and Sunday Masses because some parishioners are of the high-risk group due to old age, pre-existing health issues and still scared of getting infected. Anyhow, after almost three months of shutdown, the church bells rang joyfully again, the parking lot was filled with cars, the people were happy to be alive and see each other again and all dutifully observed the protocols. The Masses were solemnly celebrated and everyone praised God that on Pentecost Sunday the Holy Spirit came down to enable the rebirth of our church amid the havoc of the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to pray the bishop’s prayer for deliverance from the virus and for the health and life of all.

—Father Edgar Brillantes

Sts. Peter and Paul, Ala Moana

Our leadership team mobilized in preparation for the re-opening of our church on Pentecost Sunday. Procedures were developed for health and hygiene, Mass reservation, parking, hospitality and technology. Volunteers were invited to a prayer service and training session to revitalize them in the spirit of Christ. Emphasis was placed on protecting themselves and those they serve. Masks and face shields were provided to our ministers and priests. A parishioner instruction video was created and posted on our website and shown in church on the day it re-opened. We continue to livestream the 9 a.m. Mass for our kupuna, the vulnerable and those with health concerns who remain at home. In the church, seats were marked six feet apart. Arrows taped on the rug directed the flow of traffic during Communion and exiting the church. On the Ascension of the Lord, preparation for the re-opening of Masses was rehearsed at the 9 a.m. Mass. Anticipation was high on Pentecost Sunday. Parishioners and friends acknowledged how good it felt to return but recognized everything was running a little bit differently.

—Father Khanh Pham-Nguyen