Bishop Larry Silva has announced Dec. 9 that the name of Star of the Sea Church in the Waialae-Kahala district of Honolulu will be changed to Mary, Star of the Sea Church on Jan. 1.
The name of the parish school and early learning center will also be changed accordingly.
In a memo to all parishes and diocesan staff, the bishop said the name was changed because “parish leadership felt that many people simply did not know that the title ‘Star of the Sea’ is one of the titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary, so the new name should make this fact more evident.”
Bishop James J. Sweeney opened Star of the Sea Parish in 1946 and assigned the Marist Fathers to administer it. The parish school opened in the same year and was run by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.
Early documentation also referred to the parish as Our Lady Star of the Sea and Mary, Star of the Sea.
A new school and convent were blessed in 1954 and the first class in the all-girls parish high school graduated in 1956. A social hall was added in 1958. The high school closed in the early 1990s.
