Cover of the book “Lion’s Way” by writer Rita Ariyoshi
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Page 25. That’s where “Hawaii Catholic Herald” appears in the novel “Lion’s Way” by local writer Rita Ariyoshi and when I knew I had to finish reading the book’s remaining 305 pages. What I found surprised me.
It is not every day that you come across a novel about a diocesan priest in Hawaii, much less one who is not distinguished by his crime-fighting abilities or sexual scandals or political intrigue, but for his gift for hearing confessions.
And, no, the author doesn’t stoop to entice the reader with salacious tales from the booth. She treats the sacrament reverentially as the channel of God’s mercy that it is.
“The priest’s greatest desire in life was to be alone with God, to have his very breath rise as incense to touch the hem of the Divine Presence, but he found himself saddled with a gift for the sacrament of reconciliation, for listening, comforting and chastising in a way that set people on the path to peace clothed in new compassion and courage. Recognizing this extraordinary gift, the Catholic bishop of Honolulu sent Father Lion to parishes throughout the islands to bring back into the fold the lost sheep …”
The priest is a former child slave from South Sudan (the troubled place where Pope Francis just visited). His African name is Kor Majok. Kor means Lion.
He was taken into captivity at age 7 by a human trafficker who killed his father. As a slave his job was to watch his owner’s cattle. It was a life marked by cruelty and abuse. His owner sawed the little finger off both of Lion’s hands for losing a cow. As a young man, he is visited in his dreams by a man he would later recognize as St. Damien, who prepared him for his escape.
He came to the Honolulu diocese through an agreement between his African bishop, whom he met in refugee camp, and the Honolulu bishop, who was recruiting priests.
In Hawaii he is known as Father Lion. His ministry is to visit island churches, celebrate Mass, preach and hear confessions. He travels from parish to parish mostly on foot which allows him the solitude his “keen, intuitive mind” craves and the faithful companionship of his beloved poi-dog, Michael, named after his guardian angel.
The author offers a disclaimer that all the names and places are “fictitious” or “used fictitiously,” the second qualification that applies to all the churches in the story that really exist, like Sacred Heart, Naalehu, St. George, Waimanalo, and St. Benedict, the “Painted Church.”
The bishop in the story, Bishop Jim Carroll is truly fictitious, thankfully. The writer describes him as “a puzzling mix of holiness and ambition” with a weakness for fine dining — particularly at Alan Wong’s restaurants. As one who appreciates Father Lion’s gifts, he also finds in him a spiritual advisor and fraternal confidant.
Used fictitiously
Other characters and events “used fictitiously” approach familiarity for those with knowledge of the Catholic Church in Hawaii: a Father Paul on Kauai, a Father Terry on Maui, a former China missioner Father Henry who built Kailua’s St. Anthony Church. A rape and murder reminiscent of the Big Island’s Dana Ireland case. St. Stephen Seminary. A Sister Felicia Jenkins who runs Project Rachel, a program for women with post-abortion trauma out of a convent on Kaneohe Bay. A surfer who loses an arm to a shark on Maui. A hurricane on Kauai.
The Hawaii Catholic Herald is mentioned for running a piece about Father Lion.
The story takes place during the administration of a Hawaii-born president and the year Father Damien was made a saint — 2009. It includes real details from those events such as the diocese acquiring the first-class relic of Father Damien’s heelbone upon his canonization.
Father Lion’s ministry takes him across the Big Island, Oahu, Kauai, Lanai, Maui and on Molokai, where he rides a mule down to the Hansen’s disease settlement in Kalaupapa.
In his travels, meets many needy people suffering from physical, emotional and spiritual poverty. They include the imprisoned, the drug-addicted, the homeless, the rich, the elderly, the sick, the mentally tormented. He floods them all with God’s merciful message.
The reader meets the priest’s family back in South Sudan where he goes for the wedding of his sister, a visit filled with both hope and horror.
As you might expect, the book has a lot of praying by its main character. It is a welcome literary device that brings depth to Father Lion’s spirituality. It also uses pidgin English dialogue gently and appropriately.
In contrast to the spiritual advice he easily dispenses, Father Lion finds himself in personal turmoil, torn between his desire to return to Africa to serve his people, his yearning for the simple contemplative life, and a new assignment from his bishop as pastor of a certain Kailua parish. It is a position he views as uncomfortably cushy.
In the end he chooses “the most disagreeable of virtues” — obedience.
Ariyoshi was editor of the Hawaiian Airlines inflight magazine and the founding editor of Aloha magazine, after which she pursued freelancing, writing for National Geographic and numerous travel magazines.
“Lion’s Way,” Ariyoshi’s first novel, was published in 2022 by Savant Books and Publications, Honolulu. It is available on Amazon and www.savantbooksandpublications.com.
