For a half-century, in the heart of Mililani Town in central Oahu, St. John Apostle and Evangelist Church has brought people closer to Christ through its liturgies, sacraments, pastoral care, education and social ministries.
And art.
Beginning with the church itself, designed by Vladimir Ossipoff, perhaps Hawaii’s most acclaimed modern architect, to its collection of religious statuary and glasswork, the parish has praised God mightily through the work of the artist’s hand.
The Mililani church marks the half-century anniversary of its dedication on Aug. 15. It will celebrate it the day before, Aug. 14, with a 5 p.m. Mass presided over by Bishop Larry Silva who will install the new pastor Father Anthony Rapozo. A reception will follow in the parish’s One Community Center.
The parish website describes the architect Ossipoff’s work as having a “seamless integration of building and site with elegant orchestration of circulation, clever management of views, and creative mix of modern and natural materials.”
Three-piece wood sculpture of Mary and St. John at the foot of the cross by the Demetz Art Studio in Italy. (courtesy photos)
Among the first artists of renown to enhance the church was the late muralist, painter, sculptor and printmaker, Jean Charlot, who was a Hawaii resident. He created the church’s 14 Stations of the Cross, 20-by-16-inch carved panels cast into the cement walls.
Charlot, a Catholic who created much religious art once said, “The best art is none too good for God.”
On Aug. 15, 1973, the parish unveiled statues of the Blessed Mother and St. John Apostle and Evangelist, abstract originals done in bronze by the famed Rome sculptor Francesco Bonanotte. The sculpture of St. John depicts him holding his Gospel, reaching out and following the Holy Spirit in flight. The depiction of Mary shows her rising from the earth to her place in heaven.
The multi-colored faceted stained-glass window, its nine sections forming a cross near the baptismal font, was designed by well-known Hawaii artisan Erica Karawina. Her work has enhanced other churches in Hawaii with its “purity and brilliance of color.”
The church went through a yearlong renovation from 2003 to 2004, costing $2.4 million. The work improved airflow, added ceiling fans, enlarged the lanai, updated campus lighting, relocated the restrooms, and built more storage and a handicap ramp into the altar area. A new baptismal font was added at the church’s entrance.
On July 29, 2004, a three-piece wood sculpture of Mary and St. John at the foot of the cross, carved by the prestigious Demetz Art Studio in Italy, was installed behind the altar.
Abstract bronze sculpture of St. John by Rome sculptor Francesco Bonanotte, (courtesy photos)
What was once the cry room was redesigned as the Blessed Sacrament chapel. Its etched glass windows and tabernacle were also fabricated at the Demetz Studio. The windows depict St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare of Assisi, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Pius X and the Apostle Paul. A benefactor donated a 36-inch statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which was placed in the chapel in 2006.
The canonizations of St. Damien de Veuster in 2009 and St. Marianne Cope in 2012 provided the parish with another opportunity to venerate God’s mercy through art. The parish commissioned statues from Artesanos Don Bosco, a religious artists group in Peru. The wooden statue of St. Damien, blessed in the church in 2010 shows him holding a cross. St. Marianne’s statue, blessed in May 2013, shows her with children by her side and in her arms.
New planned community
The late Bishop John J. Scanlan established St. John Apostle and Evangelist Church on July 15, 1969, carving it out from portions of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Wahiawa and St. Joseph Parish in Waipahu to serve the rapidly growing population in between. Homes were replacing pineapple and sugar cane in a new central Oahu town called Mililani, a planned community expected at the time to grow to 65,000 people within 20 years.
Father Anthony Pascale was the founding pastor. He celebrated the parish’s first Mass on Sep. 14, 1969, in the Makai Chapel of Mililani Mortuary. Masses would continue there until a new church could be built.
The site of the new church was 1.9 acres the diocese had bought adjacent to the already constructed Village Center North. Ground was broken and blessed on May 17, 1970. The church cost $398,200.
Bishop Scanlan dedicated the church on Aug. 15, 1971, the feast of the Assumption, even though the pews, the permanent altar, the statues, the organ, and other furnishings had not yet arrived. Concelebrating the Mass were Father Pascale, Father Alan Nagai of Our Lady of Sorrows and Sacred Hearts Father Timothy Jacobs of St. Joseph.
The parish grew along with Mililani Town. A neighborhood house served as a rectory until a permanent priest residence, along with a parish center, was constructed near the church and blessed in December 1979.
Its last major building project is the One Community Center, a multipurpose gathering place dedicated last year.
St. John’s congregation grew from a few hundred families in the early 1970s to 2,400 registered households in 1998. The parish today serves an estimated 12,500 Catholics. Eight pastors have shepherded its flock.
Statues of St. Damien and St. Marianne by Artesanos Don Bosco of Peru, and statue of Mary by Bonanotte. (courtesy photos)
St. John Apostle and Evangelist Parish, Mililani
Pastor: Father Anthony Rapozo
Deacon: Romeo Ganibe
Area served: Central Oahu
Active parishioners: 3,544
Families served: Approximately 1,200
Parish ministries: 45
Volunteers: 270
Notable: Parishioners built the One Community Center, dedicated in December 2019, to augment outreach to everyone in the Mililani community. The parish actively engages with non-profits, other churches and volunteer organizations to meet the needs of people in Mililani.
