Daughters of St. Paul stand outside their downtown Honolulu store April 23. From left, Sister Diane Leonard Kraus, Sister Maria Joseph Petrill and Sister Mary Joane Caritas Gepitulan. (Photo courtesy of Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP)
The sisters will leave the islands without a retail Catholic book and religious articles store
By Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP
Hawaii Catholic Herald
The Daughters of St. Paul, the religious order of women who have served Hawaii for nearly 50 years spreading the Gospel through their apostolate of the printed word and other forms of media, are closing their Pauline Book and Media Center on Bishop Street in downtown Honolulu and leaving the islands on June 16, as part of a reconfiguring of the order’s 13 North American locations. The move will allow the community “to carry out our in-person and online media mission more effectively,” said Sister Donald Maria Lynch, provincial superior of the Daughters of St. Paul in the U.S. and Toronto, in a video announcement April 19.
The reorganization will also close locations in Chicago, Charleston and San Antonio.
The sisters will leave Hawaii without a retail Catholic book and religious articles store. Besides books, the Pauline Book and Media Center also sold statues, religious artwork, nativity sets, rosaries, medals, films, DVDs, calendars, music and more.
Bishop Larry Silva will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving for the sisters’ contribution to the Diocese of Honolulu, 6:30 p.m. June 2 at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu.
The Daughters of St. Paul currently have three sisters in Hawaii, Sister Maria Joseph Petrill who has served here for nine years; Sister Diane Leonard Kraus for seven; and Sister Mary Joane Caritas Gepitulan for 11 years.
“Like many of you, our religious community has experienced the challenges of these times,” said Sister Lynch in her announcement. “Our love for God and all of you compels us to continually discern how to serve the church more effectively through our religious consecration and evangelization. To do this, we are reconfiguring our presence to enable us to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to more people in our changing world.”
“We are missionary sisters sent to bring Christ to the world through the most effective means of communication,” she said. “We share the Gospel through personal interaction, digital and printed word, podcasts, social media, music, and radio.”
“We reach millions of people across the world through in-person and digital communications. Yet we hear the call to respond more fully to those who don’t yet know Jesus Christ,” Sister Lynch said.
“And so we are reconfiguring our 13 physical locations across the continent to carry out our in-person and online media mission more effectively,” she said.
“We realize closing these (four) locations will leave a void, and to say that we will miss you in these cities is an understatement,” the superior said. “While these changes we are making are painful, we trust that the Lord will grant growth and spiritual fruit through this process.”
The decision to leave Honolulu and the other three locations was not an easy one, said island-born Daughter of St. Paul Sister Margaret Timothy Sato, who was in Honolulu when the announcement was made.
“It was done through a lot of prayer and a discernment in a process that involved all the sisters,” she said.
Daughters of St. Paul in their chapel in their downtown Honolulu store April 23. From left, Sister Mary Joane Caritas Gepitulan, Sister Maria Joseph Petrill and Sister Diane Leonard Kraus. (Photo couresy of Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP)
Sister Kraus concurred. “It was a big discernment that began with visioning the reorganization of the province several years ago. But the last couple of years brought the reality and necessity more forward.”
“We do not want to close anything. But seeing the reality of how we want to grow, it is necessary,” she said.
“There are never enough vocations or sisters in community to do all the things we want to do,” said Sister Sato. “Still, we are blessed as there are women who continue to enter the community. Some vocations come from places where we don’t even have a physical location.”
Over the years, Hawaii has been a rich source of vocations for the Daughters of St. Paul.
“We also have a wonderful group of lay Pauline Cooperators,” said Sister Gepitulan. “They will continue the Pauline presence here.”
The three sisters currently assigned to the Honolulu center do not have to make the move alone. The congregation is sending sister councilors to each of the locations to accompany the sisters as they move forward. The Daughters of St. Paul are also well supported by the prayers of their own sisters. Sisters previously assigned here have also been reaching out to contacts past and present.
And adding grace upon grace, soon after hearing the news of the center’s closing, Bishop Silva dropped by the store to say a prayer over the sisters and to plan a Mass of Thanksgiving.
The Pauline family
Founded by Blessed James Alberione and Venerable Mother Thecla Merlo in the northern Italian town of Alba in 1915, the Daughters of St. Paul are one of the five religious congregations, four secular institutes and one lay association that constitute the Pauline family.
In 1932, members of the order set out to plant the congregation on American soil. They established a provincial house and a publishing house in the Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plain. There are 120 sisters in the United States and Toronto province. Globally, 1,900 sisters serve in more than 50 countries.
In the early 1970s, Bishop John J. Scanlan, the Honolulu’s second diocesan bishop, invited the Daughters of St. Paul to operate a book center in Hawaii. The first sisters arrived on Sept. 23, 1974, with then superior general Mother Ignatius Balla and Sister Paula Cordero. The first St. Paul Catholic Book and Film Center was located on the ground floor of the chancery office at 1184 Bishop Street behind the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace. It eventually moved across the street to a two-story building at 1143 Bishop.
The sisters live upstairs and operate the retail space downstairs where there is also a chapel. The sisters also rent space to the Pearson Place for problem pregnancies.
It has not yet been decided what the religious community will do with the building, which it owns.
The sisters did a lot more than sell books. They held book fairs in parishes and Catholic schools, gave presentations and workshops on media literacy and the spiritual life, led prayer groups and retreats and visited homes. They even participated in the Great Aloha Run.
From Hawaii, the sisters’ ministry also reached out to other Pacific islands including Guam, Samoa and Fiji.
Sister Donald Maria Lynch, in her message, encouraged people to remain in touch online. “We are also committed to staying connected with you as we continue our mission of evangelization,” she said. “We invite you to share this journey with us at connect.pauline.org/onthemove.”
From Bishop Larry Silva: Farewell to the Daughters of St. Paul
On April 19, it was publicly announced that the Daughters of St. Paul are reorganizing their ministries in the United States, and unfortunately, will be leaving Hawaii. For almost 48 years they have run the Pauline Books and Media Store on Bishop Street, across the street from the cathedral, selling a large assortment of books, rituals, cards and religious gifts. More than that, they have been a great presence in their religious witness to Jesus. We will miss them very much.
All are invited to a farewell Mass and reception for the Daughters of St. Paul on Thursday, June 2, at 6:30 p.m. at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa, 712 N. School Street, Honolulu.
