Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

New York Archdiocese closes 20 schools; six more close in Brooklyn

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By Catholic News Service NEW YORK — Twenty schools in the Archdiocese of New York will not reopen in the fall because of the financial fallout caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Archdiocesan education officials also announced that three schools will merge. A news release from the archdiocese cited the pandemic for sickening thousands of […]

Court: employer may opt out of contraceptive coverage

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By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — In a 7-2 decision July 8, the Supreme Court upheld regulations by the Trump administration giving employers more ability to opt out of providing contraceptive coverage in their health plans. The decision, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, said the administration had “the authority to provide exemptions from […]

Richard Doerflinger: Two approaches to racism

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A MORE HUMAN SOCIETY It is clear where the Catholic Church stands on racism. The U.S. bishops’ document for Catholic voters, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” has long condemned acts of racism as “violations of human dignity” that, like abortion and euthanasia, are “intrinsically evil” and should be rejected by any just society. They have […]

Cardinal blesses ashes of Mexican nationals who died of COVID-19

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By Rhina Guidos Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — Inside New York’s iconic St. Patrick’s Cathedral, some 250 Mexican nationals were hailed as anonymous heroes July 11, after dying of COVID-19, which they likely contracted as they kept the city moving when it was experiencing the peak of the pandemic earlier this year. Their cremated remains […]

Father Kenneth Doyle: Is the death penalty admissible? When should seminarians wear the Roman collar?

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QUESTION CORNER Q: My home state recently made national news with the decision to go forward with the executions of several inmates on death row. As a Catholic, I do not understand the idea of returning death for death, and I see executions as being more about revenge than any kind of justice. Surely life […]

In the Oregon State Penitentiary for murder, inmate lived inspiring Catholic life behind bars

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‘Serving God, not time’ By Ed Langlois Catholic News Service PORTLAND, Ore. — In 1993, 39-year-old nuclear engineer Hal Elkins hit the bottle and fell into a jealous rage. He pocketed a gun and stumbled into a Salem restaurant. There, he shot his girlfriend, Kathryn Linn, and the man she was with, Marvin Eugene Mayer. […]

Priests ministering to the sick and dying encounter situations they have never experienced before

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On the COVID-19 front lines By Rick Snizek Catholic News Service PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Arriving in the early evening at Fatima Hospital, Father Richard Narciso — his anxiety level already raised due to the circumstances — listened intently as Gloria, the nurse assigned to guide him, detailed the procedures he would need to follow to […]

Soon to be beatified, Italian teen said to offer ‘model of sanctity’

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By Jonathan Luxmoore Catholic News Service OXFORD, England — Carlo Acutis, a London-born Italian teenager who used his computer skills to foster devotion to the Eucharist and will be beatified in October, offers a model of sanctity for Christians in a new era of lockdowns, a British Catholic who lived with his family said. “What’s […]

Father Kenneth Doyle: Where is the proof of purgatory? Did Mary die and if so where?

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QUESTION CORNER Q: I was raised to be a devout Catholic and have a great interest in works of theology, such as those by Thomas Aquinas. But my mother, who is also a Catholic, doesn’t believe in purgatory. She thinks that God loves us so much that there wouldn’t be a reason for purgatory. Is […]

Pope adds ‘Comfort of Migrants,’ other Marian titles to her litany

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By Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Among the many titles under which Catholics invoke Mary, Pope Francis has asked them to add “Mother of Mercy,” “Mother of Hope” and “Comfort of Migrants.” Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, sent a letter to the presidents of bishops’ conferences […]