By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
The Diocese of Honolulu’s ninth class of permanent deacons, scheduled to be ordained in ceremonies in January and February, are a diverse bunch. The group of 13 include a teacher, a few engineers, military veterans, a doctor of optometry, a heavy equipment operator and a livestock operations manager.
They have spent the last five years, one weekend a month, in intensive academic study and pastoral training, mostly at St. Stephen Diocesan Center. All are married and the majority are in their 50s. They represent a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Most were born and raised in Hawaii. Seven live on Oahu, three are from the Big Island, two from Kauai and one from Lanai.
The class, called Cohort Nine, came together for their first weekend Jan. 8-10, 2016. After 12 months of aspirancy, or discernment, they were formally accepted for formation through the Rite of Candidacy. They received the Rite of Lector on Jan. 14, 2019, and the Rite of Acolyte on Dec. 15, 2019, the two major steps that precede ordination.
The following ordination schedule corrects the one published in the official notices in the Nov. 13 Hawaii Catholic Herald.
Four Oahu deacons will be ordained on Jan. 8 at 6 p.m. in the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa: Kin Shing Cheng, Joel Y. Narusawa, Jonathan T. Lam and Renier L. Torres.
Three more Oahu deacons, and one from Lanai, will be ordained 10:30 a.m. Jan. 9, in the co-cathedral: Savili Alefosio Bartley, Jeffrey L. Calamayan, Henry D. Costales (Lanai) and Reynaldo V. Dinulong.
Three Big Island deacons will be ordained 10:30 a.m. Jan. 30 in St. Michael the Archangel Church, Kailua-Kona: Sandor Hernandez Morales, Charles W. Mapa and George G. Wood.
The two Kauai deacons will be ordained at 6 p.m. Feb. 19 at Immaculate Conception Church, Lihue: Alejandrino A. Ragasa Jr. and Averiet A. Soto.
The diaconate is one of the church’s three holy orders, the others being priest and bishop. The “permanent” diaconate, unlike the “transitional” diaconate, does not lead to priesthood and is open to married men.
Deacons may read the Gospel, preach and assist the celebrant priest at liturgical events. They also witness church weddings and preside at baptisms and funerals among other duties.
Savili Alefosio Bartley
- Age: 59
- Born and raised: American Samoa
- Wife: Evelyn Bartley
- Children: Savili K. Bartley Jr., Noah A. Bartley
- Employment: Department of Defense, NAVFAC Hawaii
- Special interests: Gardening, building, welding
- Parish: Sacred Heart, Waianae
Jeffrey L. Calamayan
- Age: 33
- Born and raised: Honolulu
- Wife: Jennifer Calamayan
- Children: Kevin Calamayan
- Employment: IT administrator
- Special interests: Video games and digital media
- Parish: Our Lady of Good Counsel, Pearl City
Kin Shing W. Cheng
- Age: 57
- Born and raised: Hong Kong, moved to Hawaii in 1994
- Wife: Maria Chan
- Children: Francis Cheng
- Employment: Social studies teacher, James Campbell High School
- Special interests: Photography and cooking/baking
- Parish: St. Philomena, Salt Lake
Henry D. Costales
- Age: 50
- Born and raised: Lanai City
- Wife: Divina Christina Costales
- Children: Mikaela Jo-Lena Costales, Henry Deven Costales, Tyra Love Costales
- Employment: Heavy equipment operator, County of Maui Public Works
- Special interests: Serving the Lord in all I do; being with family and friends; camping and being out in nature
- Parish: Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Lanai City
Reynaldo V. Dinulong
- Age: 59
- Born and raised: Subic, Zambales, Philippines
- Wife: Jo-Ann Delos Reyes Dinulong
- Children: Nastassja Dinulong, Rey-Joseph Dinulong
- Employment: U.S. Navy hospital corpsman for 25 years, retired in 2007. Current: nurse manager, Veterans Administration
- Special interests: Serving the church, spending time with family, doing house projects, reading, walking the dogs
- Parish: Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Ewa Beach
Sandor Hernandez Morales
- Age: 45
- Born: Santa Clara, Cuba. Raised: Miami, Florida
- Wife: Dr. Meali‘inani Duarte-Hernandez
- Employment: Self-employed doctor of optometry, Healthcare/Visioncare administration
- Special interests: Enjoys sharing rich history and tradition of the Christian faith with young people
- Parish: St. Michael the Archangel, Kailua-Kona
Jonathan T. Lam
- Age: 53
- Born and raised: South Vietnam
- Wife: Diem Huyen Tran
- Children: Jordan William Lam, Isabel Thy Lam, Gabrielle Tammy Lam
- Employment: Accounting assistant, Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children
- Special interests: Playing drums and guitar, reading, aikido
- Parish: Vietnamese Catholic Community, Honolulu
Charles W. Mapa
- Age: 70
- Born: Honolulu. Raised: California, Massachusetts
- Wife: Gwenda Mapa
- Children: Charlie Mapa Jr., Breanna, Alex
- Employment: U.S. Air Force, seven years as air traffic control technician; postmaster of Gold Run, California, 26 years
- Special interests: Longtime member of Knights of Columbus. Serving the church in many parish ministries
- Parish: St. Theresa, Mountain View
Joel Y. Narusawa
- Age: 62
- Born and raised: Wahiawa
- Wife: Lily Narusawa
- Employment: Professional environmental engineer
- Special interests: Balloons, magic, bowling, watching movies
- Parish: Sts. Peter and Paul, Honolulu
Alejandrino A. Ragasa
- Age: 59
- Born and raised: Kohala, Hawaii Island
- Wife: Inocenta Ragasa
- Children: Kelcie Ragasa, Dayna Ragasa; stepsons Christiaan Fernando, Carlos Fernando
- Employment: 1984-1989, design engineer for M&E Pacific Inc.; 1989-present, project engineer/project manager/island manager/vice president at Koga Engineering & Construction Inc.
- Special interests: Golf, travel, gardening
- Parish: Immaculate Conception, Lihue
Averiet A. Soto
- Age: 66
- Born and raised: Omao homestead near Koloa, Kauai
- Wife: Debra Soto
- Children: Alyssa, Angela, Amanda and Averie
- Employment: Retired in 2017 after 30 years as a program manager and division head with the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility. Prior to returning to Kauai, 12 years in Aloha, Oregon, working for a high tech company.
- Special interests: In my younger days, hiking the beautiful trails of Kauai. I also like to capture our beautiful sunrises, sunsets, mountain and ocean views in photos and pair them with morning reflections.
- Parish: Holy Cross, Kalaheo
Renier L. Torres
- Age: 54
- Born and raised: Chicago
- Wife: Emilia Roxanne Torres
- Children: Christy, Renier II, Dion
- Employment: Joined the U.S. Air Force after high school and served around the world before retiring after 23 years. In 2014, joined the HQ U.S. Army Pacific staff in Hawaii as a senior civilian manager for the command’s civilian workforce in Hawaii, Alaska, Japan and South Korea.
- Special interests: Gardening, this year planting a herb garden and installing a garden fountain to complement our home shrine to the Blessed Mother
- Parish: St John the Baptist, Kalihi
George G. Wood
- Age: 60
- Born: Oahu. Raised: Big Island
- Wife: Lisa Wood
- Children: son JW, Justina
- Employment: Livestock operations manager at Parker Ranch for 18 years
- Special interests: Being with family, team roping
- Parish: Our Lady of Lourdes, Honokaa
