Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

Vatican City state set to end sale of single-use plastics

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By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — After current supplies run out, Vatican City State will no longer be selling any single-use plastic items on its tiny territory. While the European Union pledged in May to ban single-use plastic starting in 2021, the Vatican had already begun limiting its use and soon “it […]

Vatican to open tombs looking for young woman missing since 1983

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By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — The Vatican City State tribunal has ordered the opening of two tombs in a small Vatican cemetery at the request of the family of Emanuela Orlandi, a young woman who disappeared in 1983. Emanuela Orlandi, a Vatican City resident and the daughter of a Vatican employee, […]

Vatican firefighter says St. Peter’s at much less risk than Notre Dame

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By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — After the devastating fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris April 15, Romans and tourists could not help looking at St. Peter’s Basilica and wondering, “what if?” But Maj. Paolo De Angelis, head of the Vatican fire department, told the Italian news agency ANSA April 16 […]

Vatican cookbook offers rare collection of recipes, history, photos

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By Regina Lordan Catholic News Service “The Vatican Cookbook: 500 Years of Classic Recipes, Papal Tributes and Exclusive Images of Life and Art at the Vatican” by the Pontifical Swiss Guard. Sophia Institute Press (Manchester, New Hampshire, 2018). 204 pp., $34.99. During an era in which coffee-table books collect dust while handheld social media consumes […]

Christmas spirit in the air as Vatican unveils Nativity scene, tree

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By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — The annual unveiling of the Vatican’s Christmas tree and Nativity scene brought some much-needed warmth to people’s hearts as winter approached. Hundreds of people in St. Peter’s Square Dec. 7 applauded as white curtains unfurled, revealing a 52-foot wide artistic representation of Jesus’ birth made […]

China-born priest left with mixed feelings about Vatican-China agreement

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By Anna Weaver Hawaii Catholic Herald The provisional Vatican-China agreement on appointments of Chinese Catholic bishops has left Diocese of Honolulu priest Father Paul Li with mixed emotions. Father Li, who was born and raised in China and started his seminary studies there in the “underground” Catholic Church before coming to Hawaii, said that there […]

Vatican exhibit displays design inspired by Catholic symbolism, art

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By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — When Pope Benedict XVI’s custom-made red leather loafers became a signature part of his wardrobe after his election in 2005, Newsweek labeled him “a religious-fashion icon” and Esquire named him “Accessorizer of the Year.” While some critics saw the media’s sudden fixation on papal fashion as […]

Christmas proclaims hope, charity where fear reigns, pope says

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By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christmas calls believers to see God’s presence where he is often perceived as absent, especially in the “unwelcomed visitor, often unrecognizable, who walks through our cities and our neighborhoods, who travels on our buses and knocks on our doors,” Pope Francis said. “Christmas is […]