The Diocese of Honolulu is planning a festive day in the park to mark the end of the Catholic Church’s Year of Faith in November.
Tentatively called the Catholic Cultural Celebration, the event being planned for Kapiolani Park in Waikiki, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Nov. 23 will feature a prayer service, entertainment, music, food and inspirational speakers.
The diocese has booked the Kapiolani Park Bandstand for the free, mostly casual, social event that organizers hope will attract several thousand Catholic parishioners from across Oahu.
Preliminary plans have the day opening with a one-hour multicultural prayer service led by Bishop Larry Silva.
The planning committee, led by Deacon Modesto Cordero, intends to book a slate of popular local Catholic entertainers for a running program that will also include Catholic parish and school choirs, bands and dance troupes.
Food providers may include parish groups as well as commercial vendors.
After the event is over, Bishop Silva will celebrate the Saturday vigil Mass at 5 p.m. in St. Augustine Church located a couple of blocks Ewa of the park.
Pope Benedict XVI established the Year of Faith — Oct. 11, 2012, to Nov. 24, 2013 — as a “summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the One Savior of the world.”
Bishop Silva opened the special year in Hawaii on Oct. 9, 2012, with a Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Kalihi-Palama. The neighbor islands inaugurated the Year of Faith with their own Masses.
To encourage observance of the Year of Faith in the diocese, the bishop formed a planning committee to plan events and publish a resource booklet for parishes.
The first day of the Year of Faith, Oct. 11, 2012, marked the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council by Pope John XXIII, and the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II. The last day, Nov. 24, is the Feast of Christ the King.
In his letter last October promoting the Year of Faith, Bishop Silva said the special time “is meant to renew the entire People of God to not only receive the faith and rejoice in it, but to share the faith boldly with others.”
“During this Year of Faith, we will be offered many opportunities to grow in our own faith, and we should take full advantage of the menu of options that will be served to us,” he said. “However, the Year of Faith can only be judged successful if it motivates and equips us to go outside our comfort zones and to kindle the faith in others.”
“We pray that this Year of Faith will make us a more missionary church,” he said, “not simply concerned about our own internal needs, but reaching out to others who … still want desperately to hear the message of hope that will set their hearts on fire.”
Pope Benedict’s Year of Faith follows church tradition as popes through the ages have set aside particular times for Catholics to deepen their understanding of the faith. In 1967, Pope Paul VI announced a Year of Faith for the 1,900th anniversary of the martyrdom of Sts. Peter and Paul.
