By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Bishop Larry Silva will ordain three Hawaii seminarians as “transitional” deacons during a 7 p.m. Mass, Nov. 30, at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa.
In receiving the laying on of hands by the bishop, Dong-Min Paul Li, Cletus Mooya and Peter Miti make their final major step before their ordination to the priesthood next year on June 8.
The three men, who are all in their 30s, are arriving at priesthood from different routes. They came to Hawaii a few years ago, one from China and two from Africa, as seminarians for the Oratorian Fathers at Holy Trinity Parish in Kuliouou. They left the Oratorians last year and on Sept. 17 this year Bishop Larry Silva formally accepted them as candidates for the priesthood for the Diocese of Honolulu.
Li is from Laizhou in the northeast Chinese coastal province of Shandong. Raised Catholic, he entered a seminary in China at age 18, attending for seven years. He was accepted in Hawaii’s Oratorian community in 2002 and finished his seminary training at the Beda College in Rome from 2003 to 2005.
Li lives and works at St. Philomena Parish in Salt Lake.
Mooya, a native of Zambia in south central Africa, started his journey to the priesthood in 1995 as a seminarian for the Passionist Order in neighboring Botswana. His studies took him to South Africa and Kenya.
An American Passionist priest put him in contact with the Oratorian community in Honolulu which he joined in 2001. He completed his theology studies at Rome’s Beda College from 2003 to 2005. He is now serving at St. Jude Parish in Kapolei.
Miti was born a Catholic in Zambia and as a youth was active in the church. After high school, he worked a few years as a registry clerk before exploring the possibility of becoming a priest. He first considered the Franciscans, then the Passionists in Botswana.
Miti joined the Passionists in the mid 1990s and stayed for more than six years, completing a year of novitiate and studying philosophy and theology in South Africa and Kenya. After serious consideration, he asked to join the Hawaii Oratorians and was accepted in 2001.
With Li and Mooya, he completed his studies at Rome’s Beda College from 2003 to 2005. He is now living and serving at St. John Vianney Parish in Kailua.