By Celia K. Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
“E hiki mai kou aupuni” — “Thy kingdom come.”
The episcopal motto of Bishop Michael Thomas Tupou Castori, SJ — taken from the Our Father recited in olelo Hawaii — anchored a liturgy rich with culture and symbolism in which the Jesuit priest was ordained and installed as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Honolulu.
The July 28 Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu was a testament to joy, faith, community and steadfastness. The threat of a tropical storm passing close to Hawaii — realized somewhat with gray skies and rain that cleared up as the Mass got underway — did little to quell the enthusiasm of those in attendance.
In the true aloha spirit of the island state, the many hundreds who saw Bishop Castori’s ordination and installation in person represented a wide range of places, cultures and traditions.
Bishop Castori’s friends and families — his biological California family and his adopted Tongan family, with whom he bonded more than three decades ago during a Christmastime visit to the island kingdom in Oceania — filled the pews, as did representatives from other faiths; members of Hawaiian royal societies, who can trace their lineages back to the Hawaiian Kingdom, and various fraternal organizations; scores of priests, deacons and deacons’ wives; religious women and men representing their congregations; and laypeople representing their parishes and other organizations.
Outdoor seating accommodated many more faithful who were eager to witness the once-in-a-generation event.
Michelle Tuzon, a parishioner at Mystical Rose Chapel on the Chaminade University of Honolulu campus and a former teacher at Sacred Hearts Academy in Kaimuki, said she attended Honolulu Bishop Emeritus Larry Silva’s ordination and installation 21 years ago, and she wanted to be part of the diocese’s history despite the weather and outdoor seating.
“It is important that (Bishop Castori) worked in Tonga,” she said. “The phrase on his shield is in Hawaiian. This bishop is very thoughtful in everything he does.”
Katalina “Lina” Falekaono, a recent high school graduate who is active in youth ministry at St. Theresa Church in Kihei, Maui, said from her seat outside that she was excited to attend the event with members of her community.
Building the kingdom of God
In his remarks at the conclusion of the Mass, Bishop Castori expressed gratitude for these groups and all in the Diocese of Honolulu, noting that their work and contributions to society help to “build the kingdom of God in our midst.”
“Isn’t it wonderful that whatever our ancestry, whatever our place of origin, our first language, by virtue of our dwelling in these majestic islands our whole way of life becomes imbued with aloha, with blessings (returning) to our families and the communities which we come from,” he said — “even as our divinely created diversity enriches the life of our diocese.”
Bishop Castori said that Hawaii’s history as a former monarchy evoked a moving connection to his days in the Jesuit novitiate in New York four decades ago, when he “found (his) heart inflamed” by a meditation during a 30-day retreat that asked participants to reflect on just such a scenario — of living under the rule of a powerful yet noble earthly king — then consider how much more ardently they would respond to the call of Christ the king.
“And so now, 40 years after being captivated by the stirring images of that meditation, I find myself in awe that God has looked upon me and my unworthiness and called me to shepherd the only diocese in these 50 states that comprises a land that engendered kingship and nobility and consequently is graced with people with an instinctive reverence for majesty,” he said.
Bishop Castori also highlighted the Diocese of Honolulu’s yearlong celebration of the bicentennial of Catholicism’s arrival in Hawaii in July 1827, saying that the beliefs already in place proved a sound launching pad for the first missionaries from France.
“I was struck that in launching this year’s celebration of the bicentennial of Catholicism in Hawaii, my revered predecessor and father, His Excellency Clarence ‘Larry’ Silva, declared, ‘The missionaries who brought Christianity to these islands were not writing on a blank slate.’ — indeed, they encountered the spirituality that explains much of why their labors have borne such abundant fruit these past centuries.
“For certainly, it is no mere coincidence that a people so interiorly disposed to receive the call of Christ the king, the same people should be animated by the luminous cultural values of aloha, which is, at its heart, selfless love,” Bishop Castori said.
Blending traditions
Indeed, the co-cathedral overflowed with aloha during the late morning liturgy, which comprised traditions that crossed distance and time.
The Mass began with an oli, or chant, followed by a procession of cultural, fraternal and ecumenical representatives. After them came the deacons and priests of the Diocese of Honolulu as well as visiting clergy, then the attending bishops, archbishops and cardinals.
After the liturgy of the word, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, the principal celebrant, along with other prelates in attendance performed the ancient rites that forever linked themselves and now Bishop Castori to the line originating with Peter.
In a moving recognition of Bishop Castori’s close ties to Tonga and Oceania, during the litany of supplication — when the bishop-elect lies prostrate before the principal celebrant — Bishop Castori lay on a hand-woven fine Tongan mat layered with Hawaiian kapa cloth.
Meanwhile, the main choir provided music that incorporated Hawaiian instruments and styling. A special Tongan choir filled the nave with powerful reflection songs during communion.
Members of groups within the diocese presented gifts to Bishop Castori immediately after he was installed as bishop; they included ethnicities and cultures ranging from the Philippines to Vietnam to Portugal.
Oakland Bishop Michael C. Barber, SJ, was one of the liturgy’s co-consecrators (Honolulu Bishop Emeritus Larry Silva was the other co-consecrator) and gave the homily. He praised his fellow Jesuit for rising to the occasion, both now and throughout his priestly vocation.
Bishop Barber concluded his homily with a poignant Bible passage suggested to him during a recent Society of Jesus meeting in Rome.
“Isaiah 42 says this: ‘The islands put their trust in you.’ Father Castori, after you are anointed today, the islands put their trust in you — not because you’re Michael, or you have degrees, but because you are anointed and you represent Jesus Christ.
“The islands put their trust in you. So has the Holy Father, so do all of us, because the spirit of the Lord is upon you.”
From start to joyful finish
The events surrounding Bishop Castori’s ordination and installation began with solemn vespers the day before, also at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa.
With Bishop Silva presiding, the church resounded with the traditional hymns and psalmodies sung during the service, which is also known as evening prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours.
After Bishop Silva delivered his homily, then-Father Castori stood at the altar to recite the profession of faith and oath of fidelity required of bishops-elect. Bishop Silva then blessed the insignia that Father Castori would receive the next day — his miter (hat), ring and crosier (pastoral staff).
The solemn vespers was followed by a reception in the parish hall, which was eclipsed the next day by a jubilant post-Mass celebration.
The July 28 reception, also in the hall, featured multiple dance and musical performances by local faithful and by guests of Bishop Castori eager to share their enthusiasm and talents. The new bishop himself joined the very first performance — a “tau’olunga,” or traditional dance, presented by his Tongan family as a way to give thanks and celebrate his ordination and installation.
Other presentations of Hawaiian, Filipino and additional Tongan dances put the diocese’s diversity on display for those in attendance, including the visiting bishops, archbishops and cardinals.
The festive spirit continued outside as well, where people who sat beneath large tents for the Mass stayed for a late lunch and fellowship.
Maimoa H. Finesaloi, who attends St. Theresa Church in Kihei, said she was unable to attend the ordination and installation of Bishop Silva 21 years ago, and that she was grateful to share in the celebration of Bishop Castori with Catholics from throughout the diocese.
“I think it’s a reminder for us that he’s saying yes, but we’re also saying yes alongside him, and we need to do our part,” Finesaloi said. “If the rest of us are not following and not willing to participate or bear witness, then it won’t work. Individually, I think we’re also saying yes to continuing to build the kingdom and continuing the faith as laypeople.”
Herald reporter Lisa Dahm contributed to this story.
