Presentation: 200 Years of Catholicism in Hawaii

This past July 2026, my Diocese of Honolulu officially inaugurated a year of observances that will culminate in the July 2027 Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Catholic Church in Hawaii.  The celebration is timed to coincide with the reopening of our Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace next year.  As part of the festivities, 8 altar panels representing each of the major Hawaiian islands are currently touring their respective islands.  These beautiful mosaic panels will eventually be incorporated into the new altar in our Cathedral Basilica.  The Oahu Panel is currently at my parish of St. Anthony of Padua Church and, as a result, my Pastor has organized a week of various devotional events.

The Oahu Altar Panel on display in my

Kailua parish church.

For last night's event, this ministry had the privilege of presenting about the history of the Roman Catholic Church in Hawaii. This author has to admit that when I was first asked to do this talk by our priest, I was a little apprehensive, but after doing my research, I was so inspired, I couldn't wait to share what I learned - our story is rich, beautiful ... and HOLY; filled with the lives of several "hidden saints" who were just waiting to be discovered!

One of our yet to be officially recognized Hawaiian

saints - this man converted 4,000 souls!

I related our local church's illustrious history and paid special emphasis on the lives of several native Hawaiians - "Dry Martyrs" - whose faith and sacrifices kept the faith alive in an underground Church during the "Dark Decade".  I then went on to share highlights from our timeline and the abundance of good fruit that followed in the wake of the Catholic Church's establishment in these islands ...

And, of course, a Guadalupe House Ministry Presentation would not be complete without relics being present.  So, I brought along 3 relics of the Saints who have the distinction of having the most parishes dedicated to them throughout our Diocese ...

        

Relics of Our Lady, St. Joseph,

and St. Therese of Lisieux on display

for veneration during the talk.

All in all, feedback was highly positive from the attendees ... and the night ended with a delicious Mexican dinner, courtesy of the Garcia Ohana, fellow parishioners who own Los Garcia's Mexican Restaurant in Kailua.  What a treat!

All Thanks and Praises be to God Almighty!