By Lisa Dahm and Celia K. Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Many years of ministry in the South Pacific have profoundly impacted the life and spirituality of the Diocese of Honolulu’s next shepherd, who was formally appointed May 6 by Pope Leo XIV.
Jesuit Father Michael Thomas Tupou Castori, who had been rector of the Arrupe Jesuit Community at Seattle University, was appointed by the Holy Father as the sixth bishop of Honolulu May 6 at 12 p.m. Rome time — midnight Hawaii time. He was introduced to Diocese of Honolulu staff members, priests and deacons at 9 a.m. that morning by Bishop Larry Silva and Msgr. Gary Secor, vicar general of the diocese.
Bishop Silva prayed for the bishop-elect as the press conference got underway.
“I welcome this new shepherd for the Diocese of Honolulu,” Bishop Silva said. “I thank you for his willingness to say ‘yes’ to this responsibility, and I thank you for the ministry that lies ahead. May he be blessed, may he be a good shepherd, loving his people and leading them closer, always to you. May he experience much joy and much love in this, his new family.”
Father Castori, 65, said he was grateful to all who have welcomed him.
“I thank you for welcoming me with your aloha and for guiding me so kindly and wisely through this time and change in my life,” he said.
Father Castori said that when he got the call from the Vatican — in the garage, of all places — offering him the Honolulu appointment, he initially wanted to refuse because he felt unworthy. After a couple days of prayer and contemplation, he accepted.
He said he came to a sense of peace and joy and a “firm belief that whatever decision the Holy Father made with regard to the episcopacy of the diocese, it would be from God.”
Bishop-elect’s background
Father Castori was born Oct. 21, 1960, and grew up in Carmichael, California. He is the son of Michael and Lucille Castori (now deceased) and has two older sisters, JoAnn and Pamela. His parents and siblings were all teachers.
He attended Jesuit High School in Sacramento, graduating in 1978. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in classics from Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., in 1982, and a master’s degree in philosophical resources from Fordham University in the Bronx, N.Y., in 1991.
He has a Master of Divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, obtained in 1998, and obtained a licentiate in sacred theology (Biblical theology) there in 2009. He also attended the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a focus on Hebrew language studies in 1999.
Father Castori is an expert in Biblical studies who holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern religions (late ancient Biblical interpretations) from the University of California, Berkeley, earned in 2008. He has edited or written several works on the Bible.
Father Castori entered the New York Province of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, in 1987, later transferring to the Jesuits’ USA West Province, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 13, 1998.
Father Castori had served as rector in Seattle for about a year before his bishop appointment. Prior to his time in Washington, he served in numerous roles in the Diocese of Oakland, California, and held pastoral and teaching roles across that state. He speaks six languages –– English, Spanish, Tongan, Hebrew, Greek and Latin.
Key life moments
Father Castori said during the press conference that there were several times in his life that have influenced who he is today.
The first was being raised in an environment of unconditional love, he said. Part of that involved summer family vacations during which he, his parents and his sisters would visit the mountains, then head down to the ocean.
“Without my knowing, of course, at the time, (that) very combination of ocean and mountains would define the topography of this beautiful diocese which now becomes my home,” Father Castori said.
The second key moment of his life — which he called “surprised by grace” — occurred when he was in the process of discerning his priestly vocation.
He entered the Jesuit Volunteer Corps as a layman in 1985 and was sent by Jesuit Volunteer Corps Micronesia to teach in Guam. En route, he and other volunteers spent a few days of orientation in Hawaii.
“I was quickly taken in by the rich beauty of this state and the rich diversity and warm hospitality of its people in the 41 years that have passed since I first touched down here,” he said. “In a sense, my soul has never left the Pacific.”
Father Castori also taught in Suva, Fiji, at the Pacific Regional Seminary, which educates priesthood candidates from a wide range of geographic areas and religious orders.
He recalled a time in 1993 that was especially meaningful: During Christmas school vacation, he visited Tonga and was welcomed into the Tupou family home in the village of Fasi Moe Afi. The time he spent there was so impactful that he adopted the family surname as his own legal middle name.
“In the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, which I made as a novice, the retreatant contemplates the kingship of Christ, our Lord, who, though sovereign of the universe, so loves his people that he humbles himself in suffering and dying so as to lead them to eternal glory,” Father Castori explained. “This contemplation took on new significance for me through my immersion in Polynesian life … Polynesian culture has profoundly deepened my understanding and my living of the spirituality in which I was formed.
“And so this moment in my life moves me with great joy to select to be my episcopal motto, ‘E hiki mai kou aupuni,’ from the Hawaiian Our Father — ‘Thy kingdom come,’” he continued. “Because I believe that all of us, in witnessing together to the life and teachings of Christ, not only are set on the path to heaven, but also hasten God’s reign of justice and peace on Earth.”
Celebrating diversity
Father Castori carried his time in Tonga with him back to the U.S. Returning to California, he was able to maintain his connection to the Pacific through many years of pastoral ministry with the Tongan Catholic community in the San Francisco Bay Area and surrounding area, including Sacramento.
The third key moment of his life, which he called a “Pentecost,” occurred from 2014 to 2024, when he held several roles in the Diocese of Oakland under Bishop Michael Barber.
During that time, he also served as associate pastor of All Saints Church in Hayward, where he said he experienced “the wonder of a diverse community” that celebrated Mass in English, Spanish, Tongan Igbo and occasionally Portuguese.
As vicar for clergy, he said he witnessed the gift of the Holy Spirit in religious diversity. He built friendships and collaborated with faith leaders of Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and other Christian denominations through the Interfaith Council of Alameda County.
“In light of this 10-year Pentecostal experience in my life, the thought now of pastoring in the Diocese of Honolulu in the state of Hawaii — a uniquely situated and graced meeting place of good people of so many languages, cultures, nations of origin —brings me great joy and purpose,” Father Castori said. “I pray and ask for your prayers that I may be worthy and capable of carrying on Bishop Silva’s inspired vision of the church as family.”
Father Castori’s episcopal ordination and installation will take place July 28 at 10 a.m. at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu.
Above: Father Michael Castori spoke at the podium May 6 during a press conference at St. Stephen Diocesan Center in Kaneohe introducing him as the sixth bishop of Honolulu. Bishop Larry Silva, center, and Msgr. Gary Secor also sat in front of the diocesan crowd in the Laulima Auditorium. (Celia K. Downes / Hawaii Catholic Herald)