Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

At Kapolei parish, ‘missionaries’ venture into unfamiliar territory

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By Jayne Ragasa-Mondoy Special to the Herald The brain likes familiarity. Familiarity is safe, effortless, easy. Unfamiliarity takes effort, is cognitively demanding, and can be stressful. Yet in their commitment to evangelize and catechize parents and children of their parish during the pandemic, the catechists of St. Jude Church in Kapolei, Oahu, are courageous missionaries […]

‘Faithful Citizenship’: Gospel cannot be parsed in partisan terms

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By Dennis Sadowski Catholic News Service CLEVELAND — The U.S. bishops’ quadrennial document on political responsibility is rooted in the Catholic Church’s long-standing moral tradition that upholds human dignity and the common good of all, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City said. “The document is meant to give Catholic voters an opportunity to reflect […]

Father Kenneth Doyle: What is the status of the women deacon commission? Standing or kneeling at communion?

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QUESTION CORNER Q: A few years back. Pope Francis set up a commission to study the feasibility of permitting women to become permanent deacons. Has that commission made a recommendation to the pope, and where does the matter lie now? (Personally, I think that women deacons are long overdue, and this pope could make history […]

Letter to our readers: no political endorsements, please

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The Hawaii Catholic Herald received a number of letters from readers who objected to the Catholic News Service article “60 years after JFK, wait continues for the second Catholic president” (Aug. 21) about Catholic candidates for the U.S. presidency and vice presidency. The story, by longtime CNS reporter Mark Pattison, stated that, if Joe Biden […]

Laicization of George DeCosta Jr.

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George DeCosta Laicization Announcement – August 31, 2020, 2:35 p.m. Bishop Larry Silva announces that Mr. GEORGE DE COSTA Jr., who previously served as a priest of the Diocese of Honolulu, ordained in 1964, was laicized by Pope Francis on July 29, 2020.  The then-Father De Costa retired in 2002, but in 2009, when an allegation of […]

Bishop extends Mass attendance dispensation through Oct. 31

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By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald For the third time since the coronavirus epidemic hit, Bishop Larry Silva has given to Hawaii Catholics an “extension of dispensation from Sunday Mass obligation.” This time it is through Oct. 31. The dispensation is for “all the people of the Diocese of Honolulu and all visitors to the […]

60 years after JFK, wait continues for the second Catholic president

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By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — Thirty-three men between George Washington and John F. Kennedy served as U.S. president. Until Kennedy, all were white Anglo-Saxon Protestant men. It took 172 years for a Catholic to win the presidency. The wait for the next Catholic president sits at 60 years — and could be […]

Pearson Place, at new location, helps those with crisis pregnancies

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By Ava Montes Special to the Herald In 1970, three years before the Supreme Court’s infamous Roe v. Wade decision, Hawaii became the first U.S. state to legalize abortion on demand. The Aloha State’s claim to shame only worsened after the high court’s ruling. The Hawaii State Department of Health estimated nearly 5,000 abortions in […]

Americans have wide support for COVID-19 worship restrictions

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PEW SURVEY By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — Americans overwhelmingly back pandemic-related restrictions on worship services, saying houses of worship should not be exempt. Americans, by a 4-to-1 margin, said houses of worship should be subject to the same social-distancing rules as other organizations. The ratio backing this view was 3-to-1 for Christians, […]