Orthodox priest Rev. Father Demetrius Thales Dogias carries a small cross standing on a bed of carnations

By Anna Weaver |Hawaii Catholic Herald

A caravan of cars made the quick trip from the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa to Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Pacific on Sunday, March 30, in the first of three visits to Eastern Orthodox churches sponsored by the Diocese of Honolulu’s Ecumenical/Interfaith Commission.

Fifteen people — the maximum number the group could handle — participated in this “ecumenical study tour,” guided by commission member Peter Steiger, an assistant professor of religious studies at Chaminade University of Honolulu.

On April 6, the study tour crowded into the small worship space of Holy Theotokos Russian Orthodox Church. The following Sunday, it visited St. Mark Coptic Church.

Steiger said that the Ecumenical/Interfaith Commission last fall began planning these visits as a way for Catholics to learn more about the rich traditions of other churches and help build an ecumenical relationship with them.

“We decided to start with these Eastern Christian churches because they are much closer in terms of doctrine to the Catholic faith than, say, some Protestant churches and non-Christian churches,” he said.

Going as a group, Steiger said, “removes some of the hesitation on people’s parts of feeling like an outsider.” He added that both the feedback from participants and the reception from the hosting churches have been very positive.

At Sts. Constantine and Helen, “study tour” members followed the service, called the Divine Liturgy in Orthodox churches, in booklets.

Many in the group were struck by the rich traditions and ritual of the Greek Orthodox liturgy, most of which was in English, with some hymns and prayers in Greek and the Our Father recited in Greek, English and Hawaiian.

Tour participant and Our Lady of Good Counsel, Pearl City, parishioner, Ian Ibana, said, “When I heard the choir sing it was like chicken skin.”

St. Ann parishioner Bill Goodhue said the service filled him with awe. The “ceremony and ritual are very, very attractive to me,” he said.

According to the Orthodox calendar, March 30 was the Third Sunday of Great Lent and the Adoration of the Holy Cross. At the end of the liturgy, Rev. Father Demetrius Thales Dogias processed around the church carrying a small cross standing on a base of red, purple and white carnations. Each member of the congregation, after kneeling during the adoration, came up and took a flower.

After the liturgy, Father Dogias talked with the group about the Greek Orthodox faith and the Orthodox community in Hawaii. The Lunalilo Street parish is ethnically diverse and has about 100 families, with the first organized Orthodox community forming in the 1960s.

At a coffee hour that followed, the study tour group chatted with parishioners over a snack of stuffed grape leaves and fruit and nut cake.

Church member Michael Klimenko was born in Russia and has a Russian Orthodox background. However, he’s been attending Sts. Constantine and Helen with his wife Marianna for many years because he is “just Orthodox.”

“What I don’t like is being divided along ethnic lines,” Klimenko said. “We should just be Orthodox, not ethnic.”

Study tour participant Diane Kobashikawa said she signed up for the visits because she wanted to learn more about other religions. “It goes very nicely with the church allowing an exchange of ideas and concepts, one religion to another,” she said.

Because of the success of the first study tour, Steiger says the commission plans to look into future trips to other Christian and possibly non-Christian churches in the future.

“It’s a good idea for Catholics in general to learn about other religious traditions than their own,” he said. “Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict, each in their own way, have encouraged Catholics to become more aware of other religious traditions as a way of appreciating and growing in understanding of their own faith.”