The bishop kneels before Alii Sir Arthur K. Aiu who lowers a ceremonial sword on his shoulders, knighting him to the Royal Order of Kamehameha I. (HCH photo by Darlene Dela Cruz)
Bishop Larry Silva was made an honorary knight of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I on June 25 in a ceremony that brought Hawaiian regal pageantry with Episcopalian touches into the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.
About 150 people were in the cathedral to witness the ceremony which began precisely at 6 p.m. with a brass fanfare.
The church’s main double doors swung open and Bishop Silva, wearing a magenta cassock, was escorted in a procession of 21 members of the royal order dressed in black suits and ties and velvet red and yellow capes over their shoulders. Also part of the procession was Hawaii’s Episcopal Bishop Robert Fitzpatrick.
For most of the rite, the bishop sat in the cathedra, his normal presider’s chair, surrounded by the order’s members in the area behind the church’s main altar.
About midway through the 50-minutes of ritual, the bishop knelt before Alii Sir Arthur K. Aiu who lowered a ceremonial sword three times over his shoulders.
Bishop Silva’s shoulders were then draped with a waist-length yellow cape with crescent symbols on the back and sides. The investing knight Aiu then declared the newly benighted, “Sir Bishop Clarence Richard Silva, Honorary Alii Knight Companion, 7th degree.”
The Order of Kamehameha I was founded in 1865 by King Kamehameha V to honor his grandfather Kamehameha the Great. According to its website, the organization exists “to preserve and perpetuate the ancient culture, customs, and traditions of Hawaii, uplift the Hawaiian people” and “infuse the spirit of patriotism, loyalty, helpfulness and kindness among its members.”
During the ceremony, Bishop Fitzpatrick read a passage from Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews following it with a “prayer of blessing.” He also gave the closing prayer.
Honorary knight Robert Alm delivered a talk about the royal order and the person it honored, Kamehameha I, whom he called “one of the greatest leaders in the world.”
Alm said that knighthood was a “privilege afforded to very few,” representing a “life of service to our people.”
A proclamation was read stating that the bishop was being honored for his “aloha and appreciation of the Hawaiian culture,” including his use of the Hawaiian language in the concluding blessing at Mass, his inclusion of a hula halau in pilgrimages he led to Rome and the Holy Land and his hosting of the annual Honolulu Red Mass for civic leaders.
The choral music was sung by red-and-white-robed members of the choir of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral whose renditions of “God Save the King,” “The Queen’s Prayer” and “Makalapua” were interspersed through the ceremony.
Royal order member Ikaika Bantolina offered a couple of Hawaiian chants. For the most part, the music was in Hawaiian and the spoken word in English.
A Hawaiian flag and a portrait of Kamehameha V decorated the sanctuary. Four large arrangements of red anthuriums and red ginger added a regal floral flourish.
The congregation included about 10 priests, deacons, seminarians, diocesan employees and Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities.
A special guest was Marchesa Kapiolani K. Marignoli of Italy, who is a member of the Kawananakoa royal line, and members of Hawaiian societies.
Before the ceremony started, the Royal Hawaiian Band performed on the Fort Street Mall outside the cathedral playing “Akaka Falls,” “For You a Lei,” and other Hawaiian songs and marches.
“I’m not sure how to say ‘wow’ in Hawaiian, but I know how to say mahalo,” Bishop Silva said after his investiture rite.
“I am humbled and touched by the gesture of aloha,” he said, saying that the knighthood was really an honor for Hawaii’s Catholic community.
“In a very real way, honoring me is actually honoring hundreds of people,” he said.
Other Hawaii Catholic leaders who have been recipients of royal Hawaiian recognition include Bishop Louis Maigret and Father Damien De Veuster who both received the honor of the Royal Order of King Kalakaua in 1881. Mother Marianne Cope received the Royal Order of Kapiolani in 1885.
In 1940, Hawaii’s Bishop Stephen Alencastre was made an Officer of the Royal Crown of Belgium by King Leopold of Belgium.
Other recent honorary Royal Order of Kamehameha members include attorney and Hawaiian Electric Company executive vice president Robert Alm and retired Hawaii Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald Moon.
Bishop Silva, 63, is also a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, the Knights of Malta and the Knights of Columbus. He is not a Native Hawaiian but was born in Honolulu and grew up in California.
