By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
The number of active diocesan priests in Hawaii is up by three over last year according to the newly published 2006-07 Directory of the Catholic Church in Hawaii, gaining slightly for the second year in a row.
The directory lists 57 diocesan priests, a gain from 54 in 2005 and 52 in 2004.
The Honolulu diocese has maintained a steady number of diocesan priests over the past 20 years, fluctuating between 50 and 60.
Of the current 57, 29 belong to the Diocese of Honolulu and 28 belong to other dioceses.
The diocese has always imported a significant number of priests from other dioceses.
In the 1987 Official Catholic Directory, “extern” priests, as they are called, amounted to 40 percent of Hawaii’s active diocesan priests. The number dropped to about 20 percent in the early 1990s, but inched its way up to 50 percent over the past two years.
Of these today, 20 are from the Philippines, four are from the mainland, three are from Colombia and one is from South Korea.
The Honolulu diocese gained three more diocesan priests over last year, one through “incardination” and two by a change in status from “on leave” to “active.”
Incardination is the acceptance into the diocese of a priest from another diocese or religious order.
While the number of diocesan priests has increased slightly, the number of active religious order priests continues to slide. The 2006-07 directory lists 57, six less than the year before. Two decades ago, the number was around 90, 30 percent more than today.
An additional 10 religious priests living in Hawaii are retired and four more are classified by their superior as being in “special circumstances.”
The total number of active priests in Hawaii, both diocesan and religious, is 114.
The number of religious sisters also continues to fall. Hawaii is home to 182 sisters today, nearly 30 fewer than just three years ago. Of these, 17 are fully retired and about the same number are semi-retired.
Of the 35 religious brothers now residing in Hawaii, about 12 are retired.
The directory lists 46 permanent deacons, three of whom are from other dioceses working here, and five deacons on leave.
In an oversight, the section on religious orders in the new directory does not list Hawaii’s newest religious order, the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres, three of whom came to Hawaii on June 17 to run St. Anthony School in Kalihi.