By Lisa Dahm
Hawaii Catholic Herald
To be thought of as a “flag-bearer for Christ” is a great compliment indeed. But Sacred Hearts Father Johnathan Hurrell raised the metaphor one better when describing Sacred Hearts Brother Soane Siua — he called the seminarian an “instrument of God’s love.”
“Wherever he goes, whatever he does, he sees himself as a pathway — a river of God’s love into people’s lives,” said Father Hurrell, who is the superior of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary U.S. Province’s Formation House in Suva, Fiji. “But what I see him as is a real instrument of where God’s love can really reach out into people’s lives, whatever the situation, whatever ministry he is called to.”
Brother Siua will be ordained to the transitional diaconate at 5 p.m. April 19 at St. Patrick Church in Kaimuki. He will return to Fiji for his final semester as a seminarian, then will be ordained a priest in December in the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas.
Father Hurrell said Brother Siua is always open to learning, and he takes every opportunity to work with mentors whenever possible, following the mission of the Sacred Hearts congregation.
“It’s treating everybody with dignity,” Father Hurrell said — “knowing that everybody, every child, every person … is, in the eyes of God, a son, a daughter, broken as we may be.”
Seeds of faith
Brother Siua was born in American Samoa and raised by his parents, Mo’unga Siua and Lei Ha’amoa Siua. He has four sisters who now live in the United States and are planning to witness his diaconate ordination in person.
At a young age, Brother Siua met the friars of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, an important influence in his vocational call.
“They inspired me,” he said.
Brother Siua attended Marist St. Francis School in Pago Pago before moving with his family to Tonga at age 10. During his years at Marist, the school was operated by the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary; his godmother, Sister Akanesi Liongi, is a Missionary Sister of the Society of Mary, and he considers her a key mentor and credits the seeds of his faith to her.
“She was one of those people who really strengthened me,” Brother Siua said.
After attending a public high school in Tonga, he felt the call to consider religious life, but he was advised to wait. He moved to Hilo with his uncle in early 2016 to study at the University of Hawaii.
While completing his degree, Brother Siua’s father became ill, and he had to abandon his studies and find a job to help his family.
In 2017, Brother Siua attended a weekend in Kaneohe at the Sacred Hearts Center at the invitation of Father Hurrell, who was then superior of the U.S. Province. From that weekend on, he knew he had discovered his calling.
“He is a very happy fellow,” said Father Hurrell. “He was here for the right reasons, really seeking God’s will for him. He opened himself up, and he really fell in love with the Sacred Hearts, the charism, the care for the poor, the idea of doing good liturgies.”
Expanding horizons
In 2018, Brother Siua was admitted to the pre-novitiate program under the guidance of Sacred Hearts Father Robert Charlton at Queen of Peace Church in Harlingen, Texas.
While there, Brother Siua began learning Spanish, a language and a group of people who fascinated him for their extraordinary devotion to Christ.
“It was a great experience with the Mexican culture,” Brother Siua said. “Coming from the Pacific side, it was eye-opening for me. It was challenging for my faith.”
A year later he was accepted to the yearlong novitiate program under the guidance of Sacred Hearts Father Patrick Fanning and professed temporary vows at Holy Name of Mary Church in San Dimas, California.
He then moved to the Formation House in Fiji for his seminary years. On Feb. 9, 2025, he took his profession of perpetual vows at St. Mary’s Church in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, before heading back to Fiji for his final year of seminary.
During his last school holiday, from December 2025 to February 2026, he lived at St. Augustine by-the-sea Church in Waikiki under the guidance of Sacred Hearts Father Lane Akiona, the current provincial superior, and Sacred Hearts Father Clyde Guerreiro for community and pastoral experience in Hawaii.
There, he served homeless guests who visited the parish’s soup kitchen, Aunty Carmen’s Kitchen.
“It is a good experience for me,” he said. “I really like to help others and tried to create conversion.”
Brother Siua said he is looking forward to his priestly ordination and working in a parish with a large population from Mexico. He is also looking forward to learning Spanish and opening his life to people from many different cultural backgrounds.
“He’s always the one trying to call us to keep our international roots,” Father Hurrell said. “To keep us all connected as an international order, so that people remember that we are also out here, way down in the South Pacific, the end of the world, as it were.”
Father Hurrell said he sees in Brother Siua an ability to channel God’s love to broken families who are being disrupted through many challenges that tear them apart.
“He doesn’t see himself as the flag-bearer, but more of just a channel of God’s love,” Father Hurrell said. “He embraces it, and he gives himself generously to the vocation and the different ministries that he’s been called to.”
Above: Sacred Hearts Brother Soane Siua lay prostrate beneath a traditional woven mat during his profession of final vows Feb. 9 at St. Mary’s Church in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, as Sacred Hearts Father Lane Akiona kneeled next to him. (Courtesy photo)