By Patrick Downes | Hawaii Catholic Herald
Last year, Bishop Larry Silva invited to Molokai all the bishops of California. Next year he’s extending the invitation to all the bishops in the United States.
The bishop e-mailed a letter on Aug. 16 to his brothers in the episcopacy inviting them to the islands for a “special pilgrimage in January 2011,” completing the sentence of invitation with the enticement, “when temperatures here are typically in the 70s.”
“This would be an excellent way to spend some vacation time relaxing in our beautiful islands and at the same time being spiritually inspired by the lives of St. Damien and Blessed Marianne,” he said.
The trip would include time on Oahu and a hop over to topside Molokai, then down to Kalaupapa “where St. Damien and Blessed Marianne fulfilled their heroic missions in the service of the Lord,” the bishop said.
The Sacred Hearts priest was canonized on Oct. 11, 2009. Blessed Marianne Cope, a Franciscan Sister from Syracuse, N.Y., was beatified in 2005.
According to Bishop Silva’s office, the letter was sent through the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ e-mail list to approximately 350 active and retired bishops, archbishops and cardinals.
Last Oct. 30-31, 12 California bishops, plus Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Belgium, joined Bishop Silva for a Molokai pilgrimage that included stops at churches St. Damien built topside, and a tour and Mass in Kalaupapa.
The visit of the West Coast bishops partially inspired this broader invitation, the bishop told the Hawaii Catholic Herald.
It “was a great experience for them and for us, so I thought I would offer this opportunity to other U.S. bishops,” he wrote by e-mail on Aug. 25.
“The hope is that they, in turn, would encourage pilgrimages from their dioceses,” he said. “Naturally, even bishops first think of Hawaii as a beautiful vacation spot, but I would like them also to see the vibrancy of the church here.”
Bishop Silva figured January would be a “good time” to invite them because the month is wintry downtime between the busy liturgical seasons of Christmas and Lent.
The bishop, who himself has visited the shrines of St. John Neumann in Philadelphia and of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Maryland, has “no idea” of how many to expect.
“I would hope at least a dozen or so bishops would come, and perhaps an equal number of family members or friends,” he said.
A seven-day travel package, Jan. 4-11, is being organized by Seawind Tours and Travel, the company that arranged the pilgrimage to Father Damien’s canonization.
“Although the focus will be spirituality, fellowship and worship; recreation, rest and relaxation have not been overlooked,” the tour company said on a website page created for the event.
Friends and family are also welcome to accompany a bishop.
The tour costs $1,594 and does not include transportation to and from the mainland. Besides an overnight visit to Molokai, the trip offers some standard tourist fare like a Paradise Cove luau and trips to Iolani Palace and Pearl Harbor.
Randy King, president and CEO of Seawind Tours, said that as of Aug. 27, he had received a few inquiries about the tour but no firm reservations.