Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

Bishop Larry Silva: Alternative spiritual exercises

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LETTER | ALTERNATIVE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES February 1, 2021 Dear People of God of the Diocese of Honolulu, Peace be with you! As we go through the pandemic, we are enjoying the lifting of some restrictions, even as we still need to observe others for the safety and health of our community. I had extended the […]

Bishop extends Mass dispensation to Holy Thursday

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By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald Although Bishop Larry Silva wanted to reinstate the obligation for Hawaii Catholics to attend Mass on Sunday and holy days of obligation at the beginning of Lent, he has nevertheless extended his dispensation from the obligation until the end of Lent. In a Feb. 1 letter to the “People […]

Widespread vaccination, backed by pope, faces obstacles

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By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — The hurdles on the path toward a fair, global distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine are economic, technical, political and moral. The difficulty of vaccine rollouts even in the world’s richest countries demonstrates what a daunting task it is to quickly get the inoculations into the arms […]

Catholic Charities Hawaii successfully handled millions in COVID-19 rental assistance requests

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By Anna Weaver Hawaii Catholic Herald During the 2020 holidays, while many were taking time off to enjoy the season, a team at Catholic Charities Hawaii worked long days, seven days a week to make sure that Hawaii renters got the assistance they needed during the pandemic. Led by Stella Wong, vice president for programs, […]

Dioceses dispute conclusions of AP report on funding

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By Tom Tracy Catholic News Service U.S. dioceses are crying foul over an investigative report on coronavirus relief funding they say grossly mischaracterized the Catholic Church’s finances and unrestricted cash flows, leaving the crass impression the church used the 2020 CARES Act to hoard cash. Officials of the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, said their […]

Bishop Larry Silva’s letter concerning the new COVID-19 vaccines

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CONCERNING THE NEW COVID-19 VACCINES Dear Faithful of the Diocese of Honolulu, Peace be with you, and happy new year! As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, this new year brings some hope in controlling the virus through vaccines. The State of Hawaii vaccination plan is being implemented at this time. You may have some moral or […]

Bishop sees ‘hope’ in COVID vaccine, will ‘probably’ get it

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By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald “This new year brings some hope in controlling the virus through vaccines,” Bishop Larry Silva wrote in a Jan. 8 letter (see page 2) to Hawaii’s Catholics, while acknowledging that some may have “moral or ethical concerns” because of the use of cell lines from abortions in the vaccines’ […]

Diocese ‘strongly recommends’ vaccinations for church workers

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By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald The Diocese of Honolulu will not “mandate” the COVID-19 vaccine for persons who work in Hawaii’s Catholic parishes, schools and other ministries, “but strongly recommends those who are eligible to receive it to do so,” said the diocesan director of human resources Dara Perreira in a Jan. 8 memo […]

Diocese cancels prayer for Christian unity

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Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Diocese of Honolulu will not host its usual prayer service marking the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this year. The ecumenical observance has been celebrated on Oahu in January for the past seven straight years at the Catholic Newman Center at the University of Hawaii in Manoa. Besides […]