Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

ADELAIDA ‘IDA’ BARBOZA FREITAS | 1912-2019

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Centenarian served the church in humble ways all her long life Hawaii Catholic Herald Adelaida “Ida” Barboza Freitas, companion and helper for Hawaii’s Carmelite Sisters for more than 30 years, caretaker at the CYO Camp Hauula in its heyday, and next door neighbor to three bishops at St. Stephen Diocesan Center, died at her home […]

SISTER JOAN CHATFIELD, MM | 1932-2019: Maryknoller served here 63 years in education, interfaith pursuits

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By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald Maryknoll Sister Joan Chatfield, who served 63 years in Hawaii as a leader in the sprawling mission fields of education, social justice and interreligious affairs, died on March 1 in Honolulu. She was 86 and in religious life for 68 years. Her death was unexpected, the result of striking […]

SISTER BERNADETTE HIGA, MM | 1925-2019: Maui-born missionary served in Taiwan, Bangladesh, Hawaii

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Maui-born Maryknoll Sister Bernadette Higa, who served in Taiwan, Bangladesh and Hawaii, died March 12 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, New York, with her sister Mary Louise Higa, also a Maryknoll Sister, by her side. She was 93, and a Maryknoll Sister for 68 years. Sister Bernadette’s birth name was Shigeko. She was […]

DEACON MICHAEL DAVID ROSS | 1940-2019: Retired deacon, scholar, theologian, was a convert from Judaism

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  Deacon Michael David Ross, a former professor and academic dean at the Pontifical College Josephinum who retired in Hawaii five years ago, died March 3 while hospitalized in Honolulu of kidney failure and complications from severe pancreatitis. A sign in his room asked that he be addressed as “Deacon Mike,” reflecting his commitment to […]

FATHER VINCENT KIEN NGUYEN | 1952-2019

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Vietnamese chaplain understood how to engage his community By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald Father Vincent Kien Nguyen, who served as chaplain of Hawaii’s Vietnamese Catholic community for about 10 years, died in Orange County, California, on Jan. 14. He was 66 years old and a priest for 30 years. “I remember Father Kien as […]

Obituary: Maryknoll Sister Irene E. Solzbacher | 1934-2016

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Missioner for 65 years served as a psychiatrist on the Waianae Coast Maryknoll Sister Irene E. Solzbacher, a medical doctor and psychiatrist who spent nearly four decades serving in Hawaii, mostly as a psychiatrist on the Waianae coast in the 1980s and 1990s, died Nov. 29 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, New York. […]

Obituary: Father Joseph Truong Ky, PSS | 1929-2018

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Refugee priest help found Hawaii’s Vietnamese Catholic Community Father Joseph Truong Ky, a seminary professor and Vietnam refugee who helped establish Hawaii’s Vietnamese Catholic Community, died Dec. 30 at Mercy McCune Brooks Hospital in Carthage, Missouri. He was 89 years old and a priest for 59 years. Father Ky was a member of the Sulpicians, […]

FATHER RONALD JOHN BURKE | 1945-2018

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Former Navy chaplain served Honolulu diocese for 8 years By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald Father Ronald John Burke, a retired U.S. Navy chaplain from Detroit who served as a parish priest in Hawaii from the 1980s until 2002, died Oct. 30 in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He was 74 and a priest for 46 […]