Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

A new Vitality Task Force is writing the parish  ‘playbook’

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  By Jennifer Rector Hawaii Catholic Herald The captain of a ship makes sure he and everyone on his boat reaches their final destination. But sometimes it’s not that easy. A parish, like a ship, needs a knowledgeable captain with detailed charts to navigate its way successfully through financial shoals, spiritual straights, pastoral storms and […]

Boy Scouts will no longer be sponsored by Hawaii Catholic churches

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By Anna Weaver Hawaii Catholic Herald Starting in January 2024, Hawaii Catholic parishes will no longer be allowed to host Boy Scout groups. The decision was made by the Diocese of Honolulu in light of the scouting program’s bankruptcy after a wave of sex-abuse claims against those affiliated with the scouts. “It is important that […]

Omicron has some pastors returning to social distancing

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Others are leaving it up to worshippers to space themselves By Anna Weaver Hawaii Catholic Herald The highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19 hit the Hawaiian islands right around the time that the Diocese of Honolulu lifted requirements for social distancing in Catholic churches throughout most of the state. The latter decision had been made […]

11 island parishes assigned new pastors, administrators

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By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald Eleven Hawaii parishes were introduced to new pastors or administrators as this year’s new slate of clergy appointments took effect. Four priests were also named as parochial vicars (formerly called associate pastors). The assignments, made by Bishop Larry Silva and published in the Hawaii Catholic Herald in the official […]

State of the pews

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Has church attendance gone back to normal now that the Mass dispensation is lifted in the Diocese of Honolulu? By Anna Weaver Hawaii Catholic Herald Bishop Larry Silva lifted his dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass due to the COVID-19 pandemic on Easter Sunday. The pass on going to Mass had been in […]

Pastors across the islands report the positive side of the coronavirus pandemic

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Occasions of grace By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald In keeping with this topsy-turvy age of the pandemic, where community means separation, sharing one’s breath means contagion, and social is associated with the word distance, good things happen. Charity ascends, generosity grows, family bonds toughen, prayer deepens. That is what pastors across the islands report […]

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 […]

Pastoring in the time of the coronavirus

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By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald While many parishes have gone high tech in ministering to their people during this time of self-seclusion because of the coronavirus pandemic, some have found that old-fashioned ways work too. Father Marlon Belmonte, administrator of the two southern-most parishes in the diocese, Sacred Heart, Naalehu, and Holy Rosary in […]

Central Oahu pastors share ways to safely ‘minister in place’

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Father William Kunisch, pastor of Resurrection of the Lord Parish in Waipio and vicar for Central Oahu, in a March 19 email to the clergy of his vicariate, shared a few things central Oahu parishes are doing to continue to minister to their people. Here are some of the actions he reported. Drive-through Confessions: Father […]