Father Khanh Hoang (HCH file photo)
By Jennifer Rector
Hawaii Catholic Herald
The former longtime pastor of St. Jude Church in Kapolei has taken on new responsibilities alongside Bishop Larry Silva as his priest-secretary.
Father Khanh Hoang was pastor of St. Jude from 2003-2007 and from 2014 until earlier this year, when he left on a medical sabbatical.
He is loved by the community in Kapolei, where one of his biggest impacts was starting St. Jude on the path toward building a new church.
“When I came back to St. Jude in 2014, that’s when we worked with the diocese to buy the 11 acres at Leihano (in Kapolei),” said Father Hoang. “I started the capital campaign in 2015 for the new church. So far, we collected $3.5 million, and I signed the contract for schematic design of the new church before I left St. Jude.”
Now, as priest-secretary to Bishop Silva, Father Hoang is in a way returning to familiar territory.
“He is a very wise and seasoned pastor and served years ago as my vicar for clergy,” Bishop Silva said.
Father Hoang’s first day was Nov. 1, and he has been assisting the bishop with a variety of tasks.
“I have never had a priest-secretary before, but lately I have been so swamped with various projects and ministries, so it is time for me to have one,” said Bishop Silva.
Father Hoang agreed that “this is also new for me, so we’re on a learning and discovering journey.”
“Unlike other priest-secretaries to the bishop, he will normally not drive me around or serve as my liturgical master of ceremonies. Instead, he will take various projects off my plate so that I can have more time to work on those with a greater priority,” Bishop Silva said.
Some of Father Hoang’s responsibilities will include appointing people to various boards and commissions in the diocese, and possibly seeing that they are elected at the proper time.
“There are so many boards and commissions that it is hard for me to keep track of when a new member is needed (or reappointed for another term),” said Bishop Silva. “Moreover, each board and commission has slightly different criteria. Father Khanh will work on organizing this, so that he can advise me in a timely manner when I need to work on identifying candidates.”
Father Hoang will also assist with Bishop Silva’s transition to retirement.
The steps to finding the diocese’s next bishop include submitting a “state of the diocese” report to the apostolic nuncio to the U.S., Archbishop Christophe Pierre.
This report usually includes statistics such as the number of priests and seminarians, as well as any challenges the diocese faces.
Archbishop Pierre will then use the report to recommend candidates to Pope Francis, who makes the final determination of who will succeed Bishop Silva.
“Father Khanh will be helping with gathering statistics and other information for this report and assisting with its drafting,” Bishop Silva said. “He will also be helping me to put together a more localized ‘state of the diocese’ report to assist the new bishop in his transition.”
Before Bishop Silva retires, there is another big project he plans to tackle.
“I am soon going to be embarking on leading a major capital campaign to complete the extensive renovations needed on the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, and I want to be able to devote significant time to that, so Father Khanh will be very helpful in making sure that my other responsibilities are not neglected,” Bishop Silva said.
Father Hoang said he hopes to have a positive impact.
“The bishop really has to look at all the priests in the diocese and see their gifts and talents and he needs to discern how best to use them for the entire diocese. I pray that I can be helpful to him and to the Diocese of Honolulu,” he said.
Though it was hard leaving his parish family, he said he is looking forward to new opportunities.
“I really miss the celebrating of the sacraments and being with the people of St. Jude on a regular basis and yet now, I look forward to celebrating the sacraments in different parishes throughout the diocese,” Father Hoang said.
