Sister Marie Jose Romano, leads a reading by youth of the words of St. Marianne Cope. (Photo courtesy of Dann Ebina)
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
The Mass celebrated by Bishop Larry Silva the evening of Jan. 23 at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa served a dual purpose — a feast day commemoration of the life and words of Hawaii’s second saint, and the welcoming of a new priest into the Diocese of Honolulu.
Before the Mass, Sister of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities Marie Jose Romano led 12 youth, who were seated on the steps of the sanctuary, in the reading of passages from a new meditation booklet she published containing the inspirational words of St. Marianne Cope.
“Her words speak to us of her virtues of courage, compassion, self-giving and love,” Sister Marie Jose said.
The booklet was given to everyone who attended.
Last year Oct. 21 marked the 10th anniversary of the canonization of St. Marianne by Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.
The Mass also provided the setting for the incardination of Father Siegfred Dosdos, a Filipino priest who has worked in Hawaii for the past five years, as a priest of the Diocese of Honolulu.
Father Dosdos, 47, the only son of Azarias D. and Vivencia B. Dosdos, who also had four daughters, was originally ordained a priest for the Diocese of Butuan, located in the center of the northern Mindanao region in the Philippines. It includes the provinces of Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur.
He first arrived in the United States on Dec. 2, 2017, by way of an immigrant petition initiated by his parents who live in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bishop Larry Silva blesses Father Siegfred Dosdos on his incardination into the Diocese of Honolulu. (Photo courtesy of Dann Ebina)
Father Dosdos had met Bishop Silva in 2015 while vacationing in Hawaii.
“He told me that, should my petition be approved, I am welcome to serve in the diocese,” Father Dosdos told the Hawaii Catholic Herald by email last week.
After the petition was approved, he wrote to the bishop who appointed him parochial vicar at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Honolulu, effective Jan. 2, 2018.
“So I came and it happened that the diocese was having a retreat for the clergy,” he said. “I joined in and I felt immediately at home when I met the priests of the diocese, who warmly and gladly welcomed me.”
“As St. Damien said, ‘for when one serves God, one is happy anywhere,’” Father Dosdos said.
On July 1, 2019, he received his present assignment as administrator of St. Benedict “Painted” Church on the Big Island, which includes St. John the Baptist Church, Kealakekua.
Father Dosdos, who has a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas in Manila, also assists the Tribunal office of the Diocese of Honolulu.
Last year, Bishop Silva appointed him diocesan postulator, or primary advocate, for the canonization cause of Joseph Dutton of Molokai.
