A Catholic Digest Papal Visit Exclusive |
| | Bishop Clarence Silva
(Photo by Michael Collopy) | |
When many Americans think of Honolulu, Hawaii, visions of warm beaches and tall palm trees often come to mind. But for Bishop Clarence Silva the popular vacation destination is a thriving diocese filled not just with tourists, but with a community of active Catholics, many of whom will board planes bound for New York City or Washington, D.C. in order to attend the upcoming papal Masses. Bishop Silva recently took the time to speak with Catholic Digest
about his diocese and his hopes for the papal visit to the U.S.
CD: Why do you feel the Holy Father has chosen to come to the U.S. at this time? SILVA: I think mostly to visit the United Nations. I think this is a very critical time in the world, with terrorism, and with a lot of ethnic cleansing going on in Africa, and tribal warfare in other parts of the world, so I think that his main objective is to come to address the United Nations, to try to put some perspective on living in the truth and the values that we all hold as human beings.
CD: Do you think he’ll speak specifically on the role of the U.S. Church today and, perhaps, the role of the U.S. in general?SILVA: I think he will, and I do think we have a role that others don’t have because of the power of influence that we have in the world. I think it would be a question of trying to enflesh the values of the Gospel and translate them into language that is not necessarily religious but that can be understood by all human beings of whatever religion, if any. I also think he will also put an emphasis on the importance of religion and God in the quest for human values. That’s something that he probably will emphasize with the other church leaders that he meets with.
CD: It’s expected that there will be thousands of people at the papal events in Washington and New York, but there also will be thousands more who won’t be able to attend, including, I imagine, people from far-away dioceses such as yours. Do you have any suggestions for how these people might be a part of the papal visit even if they can’t be present?SILVA: Well, I am sure that these events will be televised for many of them. I think we’re going to have to talk about how we’re going to present the pope’s speeches and his thoughts to the people of our diocese. Unfortunately, the secular press doesn’t always get that message that the pope wants to convey. They usually pick up on some little tidbit they’re interested in using. So, we’ll have to strategize about how to make sure that what the Holy Father says is conveyed to people and not just what the press thinks he said or would like him to have said.
CD: Honolulu is often thought of as a simply a kind of vacation destination, but I imagine there are many Catholics who live there year-round. How would you describe the atmosphere of the Catholic Church in Hawaii?SILVA: It’s a very active church. About a quarter of the population is Catholic and about another quarter is Christian. I think the Church is fairly well appreciated. The Church is engaged in spirituality in many ways, trying to deepen the spirituality in people. That is, of course, where we need to be — proclaiming the risen Christ and his presence among us. But also I think the Church is engaged in a lot of social ministry. Catholic Charities is very active, very well respected in our wider community. Our office of social ministries works with the parishes and has helped them develop outreach ministries to the homeless and regarding life issues, and so on. It’s a very active church.
CD: Will you be sending members of your diocese to New York or to Washington, D.C. for any of the events?SILVA: I will be going and we have offered tickets to the Papal masses. And I think we have about 30 or 40 takers for each Mass in Washington and in New York. People who will be going on their own to visit those cities, but they will be there at that time. They want to go to these Masses so we will have a representation.
