By Lisa Dahm and Celia K. Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
When Bishop Larry Silva submitted his age-mandated resignation in August 2024, a period of nervous anticipation set in among Hawaii’s Catholics as they waited for the Vatican to name a successor.
They waited. And waited.
Was the Holy See honoring Bishop Silva’s humble request to remain the Diocese of Honolulu’s shepherd until 2027, the bicentennial of Catholicism’s arrival in Hawaii? (We will never know for sure.)
Or was the Diocese of Honolulu proving to be a complex assignment to fill, considering its location, geography and blend of cultures, backgrounds and generations?
The latter was the more likely scenario, but on May 6, at the stroke of midnight in Hawaii (12 p.m. in Rome), Pope Leo XIV announced that someone had been chosen who he believed could fit the islands’ one-of-a-kind profile.
Many years of ministry in the South Pacific have profoundly impacted the life and spirituality of Jesuit Father Michael Thomas Tupou Castori, who will become Honolulu’s sixth bishop on July 28 following his episcopal ordination and installation.
Welcome to the family
Father Castori, who until his appointment was rector of the Arrupe Jesuit Community at Seattle University, was introduced to Diocese of Honolulu staff members, priests and deacons at a press conference May 6 by Bishop Larry Silva and Msgr. Gary Secor, then-vicar general of the diocese (his title during the transition period is now “delegate general”).
Bishop Silva, now officially the diocese’s apostolic administrator, 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.”
A celebratory and welcome Mass took place May 7 at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu, allowing all faithful in the diocese a chance to see and pray with their incoming shepherd.
Hundreds of people from across the state packed the co-cathedral despite the short notice. More than 50 priests concelebrated, and at least 18 deacons were also present as Father Castori presided at his first Mass as bishop-elect.
The theme of family was woven throughout the liturgy, and in his homily, Father Castori praised Bishop Silva’s leadership in the Diocese of Honolulu and his “understanding and nurturing of the church as ohana.”
Father Castori acknowledged that families, even close-knit ones, are not perfect.
“Even the most loving of families have their differences (and) their rough patches and in times struggle to discover what God’s will is for them,” he said — which is why the Easter season is a good opportunity each year to recall and relearn how to be in truer communion with each other and with God.
Father Castori also spoke about the importance of synodality, described by Pope Leo as recognizing that every member of the church has a voice and a role to play in their community.
“When we respectfully and prayerfully listen to each other, we give that space to the Holy Spirit to enter and to lead us together as a body of Christ, ever more closely conformed to the will of God,” Father Castori said. “… This is good for the church, and it also makes us light for the world.”
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.
One key moment 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 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.”
Father Castori carried his time in Tonga with him back to the U.S. Returning to California, he maintained 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.
Another 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 — another richly diverse community comprising many cultures, languages and faiths.
“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: Top: Jesuit Father Michael Castori gave the homily during his welcome Mass May 7 at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu. Center: Father Castori spoke to diocesan staff and clergy May 6 during a press conference at St. Stephen Diocesan Center in Kaneohe; he was joined on stage by Bishop Larry Silva and Msgr. Gary Secor, delegate general for the diocese. Bottom: Father Castori prayed over the wine May 7 during his celebration and welcome Mass. Assisting him were Deacon Marlowe Sabater, left, and Deacon Jose Almuena of the co-cathedral and the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, respectively. (Photos by Celia K. Downes / Hawaii Catholic Herald)