Deacon Dong Min Paul Li and looks on as his mother Liu Shugun cooks breakfast in the St. Philomena rectory kitchen on May 26. Li’s father, Li Xiangshan, is in the background. The Li’s are visiting Hawaii for their son’s ordination on June 8.

The elevation to the priesthood of Dong Min Paul Li, Peter Miti and Cletus Mooya will be the culmination of a lot of planning by a lot of people

Story and photos by Anna Weaver | Hawaii Catholic Herald

It takes a lot of people to plan one priest’s ordination. Multiply that by three and you’ll begin to understand the amount of work that has gone into planning the elevation to the priesthood for the Diocese of Honolulu this month of three young men from two foreign countries.

Vicar for clergy Father Gary Secor said, “This is the first time in awhile that we’re having this many ordained at once.”

DONG MIN PAUL LI Age: 32 Hometown: Laizhou, China (northeast China) Parents: Li Xiangshan and Liu Shugun Siblings: One sister Came to Hawaii: 2002 Current assignment: St. Philomena, Salt Lake Future assignment: St. John Apostle and Evangelist in Mililani Ordained a deacon: Nov. 30, 2006	CLETUS MOOYA Age: 34 Hometown: Mazabuka, Zambia (southern Zambia) Parents: Joseph Mooya and Mary Ganda Siblings: Two sisters, three brothers Came to Hawaii: 2001 Current assignment: St. Jude, Kapolei Future assignment: St. Jude in Kapolei Ordained a deacon: Nov. 30, 2006	PETER MITI Age: 36 Hometown: Pemba, Zambia (south Zambia) Parents: Michael and Euphrasia Miti Siblings: Four sisters, five brothers Came to Hawaii: 2001 Current assignment: St. John Vianney, Kailua Future assignment: St. John Vianney in Kailua Ordained a deacon: Nov. 30, 2006

The diocese’s Office of Clergy, Office of Worship, the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa, and the coordinator of major diocesan events have worked closely over the past six months with deacons Dong Min Paul Li, Peter Miti, Cletus Mooya and their respective parishes on the myriad of details surrounding their triple ordination by Bishop Larry Silva on June 8 at the co-cathedral.

What exactly goes into planning an ordination?

The invitations

Let’s start with the invitations. Office of Clergy administrative secretary Darlene Cachola, assisted by Li, Miti and Mooya, created a tri-lingual invitation with text in the Zambian language (for Miti and Mooya), Chinese (for Li) and English. The Hawaii Catholic Herald did the final typesetting and design and sent it off to the printer, Hawaii Hochi, which produced 1,200 invitations and RSVP cards.

Cachola mailed 650 invitations to diocesan offices, priests and religious. The three deacons divided up and sent out the remainder, to as far away as Rome, where they were in the seminary together, and Zambia and China.

Each deacon also designed a “holy card” with his pictures, Bible verses, prayers, and thank you’s. Miti included some holy cards with his invitations. He, Li and Mooya will distribute the rest at the ordination reception and at each priest’s “first Mass,” formally called a Mass of Thanksgiving, at their respective parishes.

Leading up to their ordination, all three deacons have been receiving a “refresher course” in practical priest duties and ritual from Father Michael Owens once a week since September. Last month, they attended a six-day retreat, required of those about to be ordained, led by Father Patrick Freitas.

The Mass

The Office of Worship is planning the ordination Mass.

Secretary Jonila Kim has the responsibility of creating and printing 1,000 Mass programs.

She and the office’s director, Sacred Hearts Sister Helene Wood, will be ministers of ceremony at the ordination Mass. As they do for most major episcopal services, they will be in the sanctuary, dressed in albs, directing the altar servers and other ministers, seeing that the liturgy runs smoothly and assisting the bishop.

Sister Helene and Kim will also rehearse the ceremony with the three deacons the day before the event. They will also acquire and set up the Mass “appointments” — the candles, vestments, sacred vessels, etc. — prepare the church and order leis.

Deacons Li, Mooya and Miti each selected a Scripture reading for the Mass and the people who will be reading them. The first reading will be in Chinese and English, the second in Zambian and English. The deacons must also decide who will “vest” them as priests for the first time, assisting them in putting on their stoles and chasubles.

The music for the Mass will reflect the new priests’ international backgrounds. Office of Worship music ministry consultant Robert Mondoy and Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace music director Calvin Liu are planning the liturgical music, which will include a responsorial psalm Mondoy composed that reflects Zambian rhythms and melodies. The Chinese Catholic Community choir will sing a traditional Chinese setting of “The Good Shepherd” song.

Chalice and vestments

It is customary that a newly ordained priest have his own personal chalice and new vestments.

Individual parishioners of St. Philomena Church in Salt Lake, where Li is now assigned, have paid for Li’s chalice and vestments. St. John Vianney Parish in Kailua, Miti’s current and future assignment, has paid for his chalice and vestments. A parishioner made him a chasuble.

Mooya, now assigned at St. Jude Parish in Makakilo, will have a chalice paid for by the Knights of Columbus. The Filipino Catholic Club has covered the cost of his vestments.

The chalices must be blessed before the ordination Mass. The new vestments will be first used for their Masses of Thanksgiving.

Li, Miti and Mooya will attend each other’s Mass of Thanksgiving the weekend after their ordinations. Their parishes plan those Masses and receptions.

The reception

The Office of Clergy is collecting the RSVP cards to get a headcount to determine how much food to order for the reception in the co-cathedral’s parish hall.

The reception is Cachola’s first big diocesan event. Pat Tossey, the bishop’s administrative assistant and veteran organizer of many past church celebrations, told Cachola, “You have finally become a party planner.”

The Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa is providing flowers for the church and will prepare and decorate the hall for the reception. Tropical flowers are being donated by parishioners.

The Office of Clergy and the coordinator of major diocesan events Msgr. Terrence Watanabe has made a floor plan for the tables and chairs, catered a local-style meal and ordered the central floral arrangement. There will also be entertainment.

Travel arrangements

Because the future priests come from far-flung corners of the globe, having their families attend their ordinations took a little effort. The deacons began making arrangements several months ago procuring visas and plane tickets. Either their parishes or generous individual parishioners are paying for the plane tickets.

Office of Worship secretary Jonila Kim looks over Mass program layouts in her office at St. Stephen Diocesan Center. Kim will print 1,000 programs to be distributed at the June 8 ordination Mass.

Miti’s parents, Michael and Euphrasia, and friend Harriet Chatembwa arrived in Hawaii from Zambia on May 30. On the same flight was Mooya’s father Joseph. His mother Mary Ganda can’t travel for health reasons.

Li’s father, Li Xiangshan, and mother, Liu Shugun, arrived May 20.

All the foreign guests will be in Hawaii until June 21.

Miti and Mooya were disappointed in not being able to secure visas for their siblings because of the extra restrictions placed by the U.S. government on younger travelers.

The day after deacon Li’s parents arrived from China, they attended a communion service at St. Philomena conducted by their son.

“They were already in tears,” Li said. “Their constant prayers have helped me.”

The priest-to-be has been showing his parents around Oahu, including a stop at the parish in Mililani where he will be assigned after ordination, St. John the Apostle and Evangelist.

The newly ordained have planned visits to their home countries this summer thanks to the generosity of their parishes. Mooya and Miti will fly back to Zambia together, visit each other’s home and join each other’s first Mass in their hometown parishes. Miti will celebrate Mass at Pemba Parish and Mooya will celebrate Mass in Mkushi Parish.

Li has purchased a ticket home but has been warned that as a priest it may not be safe to return to China whose government has had a strained relationship with the Catholic Church. He is not yet sure what he will do.

Day of priesthood

Bishop Silva is using the occasion of the triple-ordination for a more expansive celebration of the priesthood.

On the afternoon of the ordination day, June 8, priests from throughout the diocese will gather for reflection, prayer, dinner and a dialogue with the bishop at St. Stephen Diocesan Center.

The day will also include a ceremony of candidacy to the priesthood for seminarian Jon Cabico and the incardination into the Diocese of Honolulu of Father Peter Dumag and Father Raymond Ellorin, both formerly of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia in the Philippines.

Then it is on to the main event.