By Lisa Dahm Hawaii Catholic Herald At the heart of Bishop Michael T.T. Castori, SJ’s coat of arms are two symbols that represent his loving embrace of family. On the left are poppies and lupines signifying his home and family in California, and on the right is a Tongan kumete — a large, wooden ceremonial […]
Profile: Building God’s kingdom as Honolulu’s new shepherd
By Celia K. Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald Though there was no way to know at the time, Bishop Michael T.T. Castori, SJ’s childhood laid the groundwork for his current ministry as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Honolulu. When he was growing up in Carmichael, California, the youngest of three children and only boy […]
Coat of arms: From California to Tonga to Hawaii
An episcopal heraldic achievement, commonly known as a bishop’s coat of arms, consists of three main elements: the shield with its heraldic charges (symbols), a motto displayed on a scroll, and the external ornamentation that signifies episcopal rank. At the heart of every heraldic achievement is the shield, which serves as its central and most […]
Hawaii parishes to take up emergency collection for Tongan disaster relief
By Anna Weaver Hawaii Catholic Herald The Diocese of Honolulu is asking parishes to take up an emergency second collection for Tonga on the weekend of Feb. 26 and 27. An underwater volcanic eruption that occurred close offshore from the island nation on Jan. 15 caused damaging tsunamis and rained down ash and other volcanic […]
Hawaii welcomes Tonga’s first, church’s youngest cardinal
Hawaii welcomed the world’s youngest cardinal and the first from the small South Pacific nation of Tonga, selected by Pope Francis in one of his nods to the church’s “peripheries,” at a Mass of thanksgiving Jan. 16 at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu.
Tongan cardinal-designate called a ‘simple, humble’ man
Above, Father Mafi on the far right of a photo of Father Johnathan Hurrell’s extended family visiting from New Zealand and Tonga for this ordination in St. Patrick Church in Kaimuki in 2005. Right, Bishop Soane Mafi during a pastoral visit to Hawaii’s Tongan Catholic Communities in 2011. (HCH file photos) When Tonga’s future cardinal […]