Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

Known to all as Father ‘Jojo,’ La Salette priest was much loved

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Everyone called him Father “Jojo.” It was easier to say than his formal name, Father Joven Toledo Junio, and it fit his effervescent personality and boyish looks. So it was a surprise to many who knew the La Salette missionary from his 17 years of service in Hawaii to learn that he died March 6 in the Philippines. He was 57.

Photos: Chrism Mass

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Bishop Larry Silva pours balsam into a container of olive oil as he prepared the sacred chrism during the Chrism Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu, March 17. Deacon John Coughlin, below, carries oil to the sanctuary. The Chrism Mass is the annual liturgy where oils for use in administering the sacraments […]

Photo: For the care of seminarians

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Rhoda Hiro of the Young Ladies Institute of Hawaii on Feb 28 presents Father Bill Shannon, diocesan Director of Seminarians, with a $2,630 check to help support the education of Hawaii’s diocesan seminarians. The check presentation was made at a luncheon after the 8:45 a.m. Mass Father Shannon celebrated at St. Ann Parish in Kaneohe […]

Msgr. Owen F. Campion: Overcoming death, the Lord lives

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The church celebrates the Easter Vigil late in the evening on Holy Saturday. These readings are those read during Masses on Easter Sunday itself.

For its first reading on this extraordinary feast of Christian faith, the church presents us with a passage from the Acts of the Apostles. Acts is in effect a continuation of St. Luke’s Gospel. Scholars say that this Gospel and Acts were the work of the same author. Beginning with the Ascension, Acts reports what life was like for the infant community of Christians in Jerusalem, and then it recalls the initial spread of Christianity.

Father John Catoir: Fondness for a former first lady

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The March 6 passing of Nancy Reagan saddened many Americans. I know it affected me more than I expected. She had an endearing smile and a quiet dignity.

Everyone knew the role she played in the life of President Ronald Reagan, and how important she was to him. He claimed that his success was directly related to her presence in his life. He had faced a particularly bad year, including a long hospital stay. “And then along came Nancy Davis and saved my soul,” he is said to have told his biographer.

Photo: Valley Isle music

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Island composer Joe Camacho, left, accompanies guest performer Jesse Manibusan at VILAC, the Valley Isle Liturgy and Arts Conference at St. Anthony Parish, Wailuku, March 3-5. The event, a spin-off from BILAC, which started on the Big Island and is now hosted by the Marianists on Oahu, also featured composer Father Michael Joncas, Joe Farias […]

Kathleen T. Choi: Jesus prayed

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As I contemplate the events of Good Friday, I marvel at Jesus’ ability to pray while enduring fear and pain. I believe that inner strength came from the hours he spent in prayer in quieter times. Prayer had become his habitual response to every situation.