Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

Welcome home: Going back to church after two and a half months was a heartening, if tentative, experience

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By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald “Do you want the 4 p.m. or the 5:30 p.m.?” Because of social distancing rules, St. Elizabeth Parish in Aiea had added a second Saturday vigil Mass to the schedule as it anticipated a potential rush of parishioners coming back to church on Pentecost weekend when parishes were allowed […]

Happy to be back

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Hawaii pastors and administrators report that the reopening of Hawaii’s Catholic churches for Mass May 30-31 went smoothly for the most part thanks to plenty of planning, masking tape, sanitizing liquid, faith and aloha. Here are their reports. Immaculate Conception, Ewa The reopening for public Masses went well. I did see a lot fewer parishioners […]

Diocese’s chief finance officer calls on parishes to return to basics

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By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald As the Diocese of Honolulu’s chief finance officer, Lisa Sakamoto knows how much Hawaii’s parishes are hurting economically because of the coronavirus pandemic. Closed churches mean empty offertory baskets. But her counsel to them does not involve cash-raising schemes or creative fundraisers. It’s more fundamental. The “worst hardship” caused […]

Facing a new reality after the coronavirus

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The diocese’s Office of Stewardship and Development is helping island parishes weather the pandemic’s economic storm By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald In this age of Amazon, a dollar dropped into a wicker basket didn’t really cut it as a robust revenue-generating model … even before the pandemic. Now, the coronavirus has been a financial […]

Bishops call for end to surrogacy as pandemic strands newborns

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By Catholic News Service KYIV, Ukraine — Border closures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have highlighted another “pathology” in modern Ukraine: the practice of commercial surrogacy, said the country’s Catholic bishops. Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, head of the Eastern-rite Ukrainian Catholic Church, and Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki of Lviv, president of the country’s Latin-rite […]

Sacraments hard without the dimension of touch

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By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — In a “touchless” environment spawned by the coronavirus pandemic, living out the church’s sacramental life is tough without the element of touch: the reception of the Eucharist, the baptism with water, the laying on of hands, the anointing with oil. Even so, good works have continued to […]

Photo: Compassion in Kapolei

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Kapolei’s St. Jude Parish outreach ministry twice-weekly serves as many as 600 adults and children who are homeless, sheltered, veterans from as far away as Aiea, Pearl City, Waipahu, Ewa Beach and Waianae. The ministry has been busy even before the pandemic. Under the leadership of outreach ministry director Carolyn Won, pictured, and her dynamic […]

Dozens gather virtually to sing psalms, hymns, songs

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By Dan Meloy Catholic News Service PONTIAC, Mich. — Notre Dame Preparatory High School’s choir and alumni are bringing the world a little closer together, even when it remains far apart. On April 19, the school released a video that featured 92 singers — 67 current students and 25 alumni and teachers — singing a […]

‘Thanks be to God!’ Honolulu mayor gives go-ahead to public services

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By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald “Thanks be to God!” That was Bishop Larry Silva’s reaction to the “great news” coming from Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s office May 21 allowing public worship services with proper coronavirus restrictions starting Saturday, May 23. However, parishes will not be ready to open that soon, the bishop said, and asked […]