Dear Brothers and Sisters:

May the peace of the risen Lord be with you!

One of the priorities surfaced by parishioners who participated in our pastoral planning process is the desire to address the crisis of homelessness. Many programs of outreach to the homeless are already conducted by our parishes, schools, religious communities, our diocesan Office of Social Ministries, and Catholic Charities Hawaii. The implementation committee for this priority will soon be surveying what we already do and will identify opportunities to help us be even more effective in addressing a problem that affects so many of our brothers and sisters.

One key component in solving the challenge of homelessness is the development of a sufficient stock of affordable housing throughout our islands. Even if people have jobs and the skills needed to secure a decent place to live, they are often unable to do so because affordable housing is simply not available. We are also aware that many of our young local people cannot afford to live in Hawaii because of the high cost of housing, so they move to more reasonably priced Mainland cities. For over a year now I have been meeting with a special Task Force on Affordable Housing, and they have crafted a plan whose purpose is to involve the wider community in a very practical way in addressing this challenge.

I am happy to announce that I have appointed Msgr. Terrence Watanabe as the first Director of the Office of Affordable Housing of the Diocese of Honolulu, effective Sept. 1, 2008.

Monsignor Watanabe is an experienced pastor who has done extensive work with FACE community organizing, Family Promise (a housing agency) and other community and civic organizations. He will direct the office for 12 to 18 months to launch the effort while we develop the resources to hire a lay director. Some may wonder why I have appointed a priest to this task when the pastoral needs of the diocese are so pressing. I have done so precisely to signal that this IS a pastoral initiative. Our vision is not simply to create a Catholic housing development agency to take its place among many other such agencies. Our vision is to involve the entire Catholic community — and others who wish to join us — in a grassroots commitment to addressing this issue. Sometimes we fund an agency or office to do the work, but with this initiative, the very mission of the Office is to help us all to find a way to participate in the task.

The mission of the Office of Affordable Housing will be carried out through the following:

n  Inspire and mobilize Catholics to come together in an organized manner and contribute towards addressing the homelessness and affordable housing crisis.

n  Be known as a trusted and reliable force able to lead and direct efforts in acquiring resources (e.g. land, finances or human resources) that can be applied to developing more affordable housing throughout our State.

n  Be a major collaborator in addressing the homelessness and affordable housing crisis, through formalized partnerships with government agencies, non-profit entities, and church of other denominations.

In addition to the issue of Homelessness, the Roadmap for Our Mission also indicates that Leadership Development and Faith Formation are priorities. We hope this new ministry of the diocese will help address all three priorities as it addresses the issue of homelessness. The social teachings of the Catholic Church are rich in giving us a spirituality for outreach, and while we help in a practical way, we can grow in our faith. We will also have the opportunity to identify and train leaders who can motivate others in lending their support.

I am most grateful to all who have brought us to the decision to introduce this ministry, particularly many of our elected officials and the members of the Affordable Housing Task Force. They are: Bob Agers, Father Marc Alexander, James Dannemiller, Deacon Stan Franco, Carol Ignacio, Betty Lou Larson, Edward Ontai, Tom Papandrew, Kaulana Park, Jerry Rauckhorst, Charles Ridings, Kelly Rosati, Rick Stack, and Deacon Walter Yoshimitsu.

You will be hearing more about this initiative in the fall, but for now I ask you to pray for its success, so that we can work together as one ohana in caring for all in our community. May the Lord bless our efforts, and may He bless all of you!

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Larry Silva

Bishop of Honolulu