Father Wilson Anibal Buitrago, Father Seung Wook Lim, Father Clarence Zamora, Benedictine Father Thomas Acklin
Diocese welcomes four priests from elsewhere to serve here
By Anna Weaver | Hawaii Catholic Herald
Hawaii gained four new priests in the last few months, one from South Korea, one from Colombia, and two from the mainland.
Arriving from the Archdiocese of Medellin in Colombia is Father Wilson Anibal Buitrago, the new chaplain for Hispanic Ministry on Maui. He will be in residence at St. Theresa Church, Kihei, but also serve Christ the King Parish in Kahului and Maria Lanakila Parish in Lahaina. Maui has about 14,000 Spanish-speaking Catholics.
Father Buitrago, 39, replaces Father Jose Cadavid, who is now associate pastor at St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, Mililani. Father Buitrago first came to Hawaii in 2008 and returned late last year to serve for three months on Maui. Bishop Silva received permission from the Medellin archbishop for Father Buitrago to continue working in the islands for three years.
Through diocesan staffer Theresa Gomez’s translation, Father Buitrago said he accepted the task of staying on in Hawaii because he was “happy with the mission that God has sent me to do. There is a great deal of work to be done in Hawaii.”
Some of his goals while here are to use his experience with “New Evangelization” in the Maui Hispanic communities and to help implement the diocesan Road Map.
The Korean Catholic Community received a new associate chaplain Dec. 1 with the arrival of Father Seung Wook Lim from the Diocese of Daejeon, Korea. Father Lim, whose religious name is John Chrysostom, took over the associate position from Father Mary Joseph Kwang Seog Han who is now the community’s main chaplain.
Father Han replaces Father Peter Kim who returned to South Korea on Jan. 19.
Through the translation of Sister of Divine Providence Younghee Benedicta Ha, Father Lim told the Hawaii Catholic Herald he’s excited to be in Hawaii. He said researched the islands online — particularly hula and the Hawaiian culture — prior to his arrival.
His responsibilities with the Korean Catholic Community will be to say the Korean-language Mass at St. Philomena Church in Salt Lake, teach Sunday school to children and teenagers, oversee altar servers and assist Father Han.
“I’d like to help with the development of the Korean Catholic Community and go beyond that by helping the diocese,” he said.
Father Lim, 39, was ordained in 2008 and spent the last two years serving at a parish in the Daejeon diocese. He will be living at the Korean Catholic Community’s rectory at St. Pius X Parish in Manoa.
No stranger to Hawaii is Diocese of Oakland priest Father Clarence Zamora, 63, who first came to Hawaii for college and taught in Hawaii public schools for 30 years before discerning a vocation as a priest.
Born in Albuquerque, N.M., Father Zamora came to the University of Hawaii as a sophomore and stayed on. He initially studied to be a priest for the Diocese of Honolulu before switching to Oakland and being ordained there in 2005.
“I’m not going to miss the Oakland weather, but I will miss the people there who came to realize that aloha is not limited by geography,” Father Zamora said.
He calls himself “new wine in old skins” and said, “I’m looking forward to ministering to the people of God in Hawaii and being their servant.”
Along with Father Paul Li, Father Zamora is an associate pastor at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Pearl City and hopes to stay on and serve in Hawaii.
Benedictine Father Thomas Acklin is the new associate pastor at St. Stephen and Blessed Sacrament Parishes in Honolulu and the chaplain of the Oahu Latin Mass Community. Father Acklin, 61, is a member of the Benedictines of St. Vincent in Pennsylvania.
He has served in Hawaii before on temporary assignments, the first being in July 2008. Father Acklin will be in residence at Blessed Sacrament, where the Latin Mass Community meets weekly.
Father Buitrago’s assignment was effective Dec. 1 and Fathers Lim, Zamora and Acklin’s appointments were effective Feb. 1.