Photos by Anna Weaver

After a Mass in the chapel of Regina Pacis Convent in Kaimuki, the Catholic Women’s Guild holds one of their quarterly meetings on March 17.

The Catholic Women’s Guild, the islands’ oldest lay organization, has been helping Hawaii’s poor since the reign of Kamehameha IV

By Anna Weaver | Hawaii Catholic Herald

Women’s Guild members chat as they get St. Patrick’s Day food and punch after their March 17 meeting.

Pasted on the flyleaf of the 1927 Catholic Women’s Guild minute book was a clipping of a verse by George Linnaeus Banks: “For the cause that lacks assistance, for the wrong that needs resistance, for the future in the distance, and the good that we can do.”

As it nears its 150th anniversary, Hawaii’s oldest active lay Catholic organization continues to keep that sentiment as their goal.

“We’re very strong women at feeding the hungry, helping the poor, all the things Jesus tells you to do,” said Guild president Catherine Sciabica.

She believes that the organization helps “to give [women] their solidarity, to give them their identity, get them out a little bit, to have a spiritually good time.”

However, the Guild, which currently has 175 members, hopes that it can attract more women, particularly younger women, to keep the group alive in the years to come.

It also is preparing to celebrate its sesquicentennial in two years by delving into the Guild’s long and varied past.

Yesterday

The Catholic Women’s Guild started in Hawaii 1859 when King Kamehameha IV was on the throne, just 32 years after the first Catholic missionaries arrived. It was founded as a “sister society” to the Hawaiian Catholic Association, whose treasurer’s report of that year stated that 22 women came together “for the purpose of assisting the ladies lately arrived, constituting a part of the Catholic mission.”

The new arrivals were 10 Sacred Hearts Sisters off the boat from France who came here to teach island girls. Records for the group are imprecise until it reorganized as the Catholic Ladies Benevolent Society in 1890. The organization would change its name several more times before settling on the Catholic Women’s Guild in 1949.

Nearly a century-and -a-half of social ministry Highlights in the Catholic Women’s Guild’s history: 1859: A group of women come together to assist newly arrived Sacred Hearts Sisters. 1887: The group is referred to in records as the Portuguese Ladies Benevolent Association. 1890: The group is renamed the Catholic Ladies Benevolent Association (sometimes referred to as the Catholic Benevolent Association). 1893: “Due to the unsettled condition of the times” (the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy on Jan. 17, 1893) a group fundraiser was not held. 1901: The name is changed to the Catholic Ladies Aid Society. 1918: After helping out for several years, the group goes on record as a “Society to help financially the Kalihi Orphanage.” 1926: As the term “ladies” is now considered “antiquated,” the name is changed to the Catholic Women’s Aid Society. 1941: A minutes summary states that donated toys for the Kalihi orphanage that were not wrapped before Dec. 7 were put aside for the next year and “despite war conditions it is recorded that the [annual] Orphanage party on December 21st … was one of the most enjoyable ever held.” 1946: The St. Francis Hospital Guild dissolves and becomes a part of the Catholic Women’s Aid Society. 1949: The group’s name is changed to the Catholic Women’s Guild to reflect the new consolidated group. 1955: A Windward Oahu branch is formed for those women who can’t travel to Honolulu for activities. The branch adopts a ward at the KaneoheTerritorialHospital for regular volunteering. 1959: The Guild celebrates its centennial with a party at Washington Place on Feb. 7 including, according to minutes, Gov. William F. Quinn singing “Danny Boy.” 1962: The Guild is incorporated as a non-profit organization.

From the late 1800s through the early 1900s, the Guild did charity work mostly on a case-by-case basis, giving money, food and clothes to individuals and families that were brought to their attention. They also regularly assisted the religious, the St. Anthony orphanage in KalihiValley, and other church groups.

The Guild established a Parochial School Health Program in 1932 soon followed by a dental care service.

The group went on a brief hiatus during World War II. When the Maryknoll Sisters started Catholic Social Services (today Catholic Charities Hawaii) in 1944 and the Guild’s health and dental programs were taken over by other organizations and for a time it considered disbanding. However, the group decided there was still a role for them in the islands.

A revival in Guild membership and activities took place from the 1950s to the 1970s with numbers reaching 400-500 members. The Guild even expanded to include a Windward Oahu branch in 1955 to accommodate that burgeoning community.

Volunteers went monthly to St.FrancisHospital and the StateHospital in Kaneohe, turned toward helping the elderly and mentally challenged, and continued a sewing committee that had mended and made clothes and other items for the needy since the late 1800s.

In the 1980s and 1990s, activities included funding a drop-in resource center for the homeless, volunteering at the Institute for Human Services, sponsoring an art scholarship for Catholic school students, visiting care homes on a regular basis, and sewing lap blankets.

Today

Much of the Guild’s work today is giving money to charity. The group meets four times a year and has guest speakers periodically.

One of the perks of being a member is not having to fundraise because of the endowments received and investments made by the organization over the years.

Today the Guild’s money no longer goes to individuals but to Hawaii organizations that help those in need. About half its donations go to Catholic Charities.

“We’re fortunate that we can continue to contribute,” said Guild treasurer Agnes Conrad. She says the Guild switched from case-by-case charity to giving to larger groups because, “there are so many more organizations now that can do [charity work] better.”

“I think there’s a great responsibility when you have money,” said secretary Catherine Hughes. “It should be used properly.”

Tomorrow

Hughes is helping to head up a preservation effort of Guild archival material and she is hoping to find someone to write a complete history of the organization.

The Guild also needs to find a replacement for treasurer Agnes Conrad, who has been in the position since 1995, and is stepping down. The Guild hopes to involve more women, especially younger women to continue its legacy.

“[Women] don’t understand how spiritually fulfilled they would be if they got involved,” Sciabica said.