By Lisa Dahm
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Jesuit Father Michael Castori was quickly and warmly welcomed by isle Catholics earlier this month as Pope Leo XIV announced he would become the sixth bishop of Honolulu.
Whether they were familiar with Father Castori from his previous ministries or saw him for the first time during the Diocese of Honolulu’s May 6 press conference or May 7 celebratory Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu, many expressed gratitude for his appointment and hope for his ministry in Hawaii.
Bishop Larry Silva, the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Honolulu, met Father Castori briefly in Oakland, California, after the bishop had been leading the Diocese of Honolulu for many years. They were both friends with Jesuit Bishop Michael C. Barber of the Diocese of Oakland.
“When I had dinner with Father Castori the night before his official appointment, I was impressed with his humility, his friendliness, and his deep connections to the cultures of the Pacific Islands,” Bishop Silva said. “In the days I spent with him, giving him an initial introduction to the people and ministries in the Diocese of Honolulu, he was obviously happy to meet the people he would soon serve as their shepherd. I am thankful to God for giving us a bishop who is deeply in love with the Lord and his beloved people.”
Answered prayer
Father Romple Emwalu, pastor of St. Michael Church in Waialua, also has ties to Father Castori and was grateful when the Vatican’s announcement was made.
Since Bishop Larry Silva announced his retirement last year, Father Emwalu has known the future of the diocese is in God’s hands. All he could do was continue to hope for a new shepherd who was “humble, holy and loving.”
“I had been praying, ‘God, give us a shepherd that will be like Bishop Larry.’”
Father Emwalu found his prayers answered when he learned the bishop-elect was Father Castori, who once served as parochial vicar of All Saints Church in Oakland. As a transitional deacon assigned to that parish, Father Emwalu had served with Father Castori at Mass; the Jesuit priest also was friends with Father Emwalu’s uncle from his seminary days.
“My overall reaction is, ‘Thank God.’ I think that (the bishop-elect) is what we need,” Father Emwalu said. “He is a very humble person, and he likes to be in the community with families. That is what I noticed with working with him at All Saints.”
Msgr. Gary Secor, delegate general (formerly vicar general) of the diocese, said he spent time with Father Castori at St. Stephen Diocesan Center in Kaneohe during his recent weeklong visit.
“He is very personable, warm and listens well,” Msgr. Secor said. “His experience ministering in Micronesia and the Philippines bodes well for his ability to relate to our island culture. The Holy Father and the Holy Spirit have blessed us!”
Marianist Brother Brandon Alana, chief mission officer for Saint Louis School in Kaimuki and chair of the Leadership Association of Religious Congregations in Hawaii, also noted Father Castori’s ministry in the Pacific.
“That was both affirming and hopeful that the Holy Father paid particular attention to us and appointed someone who would meet the needs of our diocese but also understand the uniqueness of our island community and of the church in Hawaii,” Brother Alana said.
Brother Alana, who was in a LARC executive meeting on the day Father Castori was announced as the bishop-elect, said he thinks Father Castori will help religious congregations in the diocese to embrace their particular chrism.
“We were excited that the Holy Father had appointed a new bishop for the diocese, but we were even more excited that it was a fellow religious,” Brother Alana said. “As a member of the congregation of the Society of Jesus, (he is) someone who understands the prophetic life of a religious, but also, a greater call to the faithful of the church to really be attentive and responsive to the signs of our times and where we find ourselves today, both as a church, as a community and as a country.”
Jesuit Father Phillip A. Ganir, who grew up in Hawaii and is now an assistant professor in Boston College’s Clough School of Theology and Ministry, said he was delighted, excited and also shocked when he learned of Father Castori’s appointment.
Shocked, Father Ganir, noted, because members of the Society of Jesus do not typically serve as bishops — and yet, their fourth vow of obedience (which Father Ganir himself professed in April) calls for obedience to the pope when it comes to mission.
“At the same time, I was also delighted and excited about the news just because I know that the Hawaii church is getting a solid leader in Father Castori,” he added.
“I am so grateful that the Spirit has sent him to us, and I pray that we can all be open to the ways he will lead and shepherd all of us.”
Focus on ohana
Deborah Kula, a parishioner at Holy Trinity Church in Kuliouou, attended Father Castori’s welcome Mass at the co-cathedral.
The former Sacred Hearts Academy educator, whose late husband was a deacon at Holy Trinity, said she is “definitely very grateful for the 21 years that Bishop Larry gave us through his wisdom, his spiritual shepherding and his guidance.”
“His motto, ‘Witness to Jesus,’ covers it all with him.”
Kula said she had been anticipating the announcement of a new bishop but was surprised nonetheless. She found Father Castori to be energetic, friendly and kind.
“He is definitely filled with the Holy Spirit, and he seems to have a really good sense of Hawaii and the Pacific as a place of ohana,” she said. “That came across clearly, even as he acknowledged that in today’s world, we have really deep differences that divide families, communities and nations.”
Kula said that in his homily at his welcoming Mass, Father Castori linked the important traditions of the Pacific as opportunities to “find common ground” and to an effective way to follow Christ and work toward peace.
“I think his emphasis on the need for people to listen respectfully to one another’s concerns and contemplate where that’s coming from, expecting that everyone really wants what’s best, but we have different ways of looking at it,” Kula said. “That hit home with me in my heart, and also his emphasis on Pope Francis’ call for synodality, which means finding a way to be unified even with our differences.”
While watching the live press conference feed on May 6, Mark and Maricel Sebastian knew they had to show their support for the new bishop-elect by attending his Welcoming Mass.
“We’re here for our new bishop (elect), whether it’s through prayers or through direct service with him,” Maricel Sebastian said. “It’s always good for anyone who shepherds our church to see our community and to know that we’re all one big ohana. It’s not just him that’s building the kingdom of heaven, but it’s all of us included.”
The Sebastians, who hail from Immaculate Conception Church in Ewa, are deeply involved in family ministry, young adult and youth ministry, and Engaged Encounter, which is the diocesan marriage preparation ministry.
Despite the long drive, they wanted to be at the Mass in person, not necessarily to meet the bishop-elect, but to welcome him.
“I just felt that it’s going to be a very tough role as a new bishop and that just showing up for him and showing that this community is behind him, no matter how new or how unfamiliar he is with the islands, we’re going to be behind him no matter what, because the pope has chosen him,” Mark Sebastian said. “We truly believe that Jesus works through his (the pope’s) ways, and that he will find the correct shepherd for us here in Hawaii.”
Brother Alana said that, based on Father Castori’s homily during his welcoming Mass, which drew on Acts 15: 7-21, he sees that the next shepherd of the diocese will focus on ecumenism.
“I think he will help us to move forward, not just as a community of Catholics, but also as people who live here in the state of Hawaii, made up of Catholics and non-Catholics alike that share the same concern for our resources, and often (have) the same values as we do for family, for the community, and I think also for the environment,” Brother Alana said.
Herald editor Celia K. Downes contributed to this story.
Above: Top: From religious women and men in the front of the church to the choir members above in the loft, the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu was filled May 7 for Jesuit Father Michael Castori’s welcome and celebratory Mass. Bottom: Jesuit Father Michael Castori incensed the altar at the start of Mass May 7 at the co-cathedral. (Celia K. Downes / Hawaii Catholic Herald) (Photos by Celia K. Downes / Hawaii Catholic Herald)