Chronology of significant events in the administration of Bishop Joseph A. Ferrario

1982

• May 18: Appointed by Pope John Paul II as third Bishop of Honolulu
• June 29: Installed as bishop in ecumenical ceremony at the Neal Blaisdell Center
• Sept. 12: Dedicates the new Newman Center facilities at the University of Hawaii at Manoa
• Sept. 25: Starts visits to all Hawaii parishes
• Nov. 1: Establishes the seven diocesan vicariates
• Nov.-Dec.: Creates diocesan commissions for communications, youth ministry, justice and peace, and ecumenism

1983

• Jan. 14: Creates the diocesan Family Life Commission
• Lent: Brings Chrism Masses to all islands
• June 11: Ordains Roland Pacudan to the priesthood
• June 12: Blesses new Sacred Hearts Church in Kapalua, Maui
• June 23: Reorganizes the Catholic Youth Organization
• Aug. 9: Establishes the Mother Marianne Cope tribunal for the cause of her canonization
• Aug. 29-Oct. 2: Makes ad limina visit to Rome and the Holy Father
• Sept. 1: Establishes two-year confirmation preparation program with a high school age requirement
• Sept. 16: Issues pastoral letter “The Posture of the Assembly at Mass: An Overdue Issue”
• Dec. 30: Creates the Diocesan Finance Committee

1984

• Jan 29: Through the diocesan Communications Commission, sponsors two weekly Catholic television shows on KHON-TV
• Feb. 12: Formally introduces the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) into the diocese
• Feb. 26: Breaks ground for new St. Theresa Church in Kihei, Maui
• March 28: Establishes the Augustine Educational Foundation for tuition assistance for Catholic School students
• July: Launches a five-year parish renewal plan
• July 11: Undertakes a complete change of leadership of Catholic Social Services
• Aug. 10: Welcomes Capuchin Franciscan order to serve in Hawaii parishes
• Aug. 24: Issues pastoral letter, “Priestly Ministry and Temporal Responsibility,” a guide on Mass stipends and “proper giving”
• Oct. 20: Celebrates Mass at first Diocesan Youth Day
• Nov. 23: Ordains Paul McLeod, SSCC, to the priesthood
• Dec.: Ordains 10 permanent deacons in four separate ceremonies on three islands
• Dec. 5: Opens diocesan Communications Center on the 28th floor of the Century Center next door to the chancery
• Dec. 27: Ordains Michael Owens to the priesthood

1985

• Jan. 5: Ordains Gordian Carvalho to the priesthood
• Feb. 6: Reorganizes Catholic Social Services as Catholic Charities with three departments, for the elderly, families and immigrants; creates the Office for Social Ministry
• March 1: Establishes Resurrection of the Lord Mission in Waipio Gentry area of leeward Oahu
• March 1: Establishes the diocesan Family Life Office
• April 7: Offers two acres of diocesan land in Maili to the homeless “beach people”
• April 27: Dedicates new St. Theresa Church, Kihei
• June 7: Signs Maili property over to City and Country of Honolulu for construction of transitional housing for the homeless
• July 7: Produces the television show, “The Catholic Church in the ‘80s -- Revealing God’s Love in a New Generation,” which is aired on KGMB-TV
• July 28: Names St. Theresa Church in Honolulu as a co-cathedral
• Aug. 17: Convenes the daylong Convocation on Economic Justice, which produces 24 resolutions for social ministry in the diocese
• Aug. 24: Ordains Donald Thomas to the priesthood
• Sept. 30: Begins “Stewardship: The Spirit in Action,” an parish-level education program
• Oct. 11: Establishes St. Jude Mission in Makakilo
• Oct. 18: Ordains Marc Alexander to the priesthood
• Nov. 24: Dedicates the new chapel for the Carmelite Sisters at St. Stephen Diocesan Center
• Nov. 29: Blesses the new Maile transitional shelter for the homeless

1986

• Jan. 15: Announces the establishment of Project Rachel, a post-abortion counseling program
• March 30: Sponsors four-and-a-half hours of Catholic television from the Catholic Telecommunications Network of America on KDSV-14 and Oceanic 18
• June 16: Co-sponsors first Catechetical and Pastoral Institute attended by 270
• June 20: Issues the pastoral letter, “Decree on Proper Parishes,” which states that Catholics may belong to and support any parish of their choosing
• July 12: Ordains Marisi Palepale, SSCC, to the priesthood
• July 25: Appoints Maryknoll Sister Grace Dorothy Lim as first woman chancellor of the diocese
• Aug. 15: Ordains Robert Santry, married former Episcopalian priest, to the priesthood
• Aug. 22: Ordains Alain Blanchard to the priesthood
• Aug. 29: Creates the diocesan Committee for Development.
• Nov. 21: Ordains David Swensen to the priesthood
• Nov. 27: Opens Maui Catholic Charities homeless shelter in Puunene
• Dec. 5: Ordains Robert Schwarzhaupt to the priesthood
• Dec. 19: Ordains Sean O’Reilly to the priesthood

1987

• Jan. 17: Celebrates Mass for and with people with disabilities at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa
• Feb. 11: Breaks ground for St. Francis Medical Center West
• Feb. 27: Expresses “vigorous opposition” to death penalty bills introduced in the state legislature
• June: Ordains 13 permanent deacons at various churches on several islands
• June 5: Appoints first diocesan Director of Development
• Aug. 21: Ordains Frank DeRego to the priesthood
• Aug. 26: Testifies before the State Health Planning and Development Agency against the Planned Parenthood’s proposed abortion facility in the 1164 Bishop Street building overlooking the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, beginning a public legal battle against the facility. Planned Parenthood, which eventually won the legal right to perform abortions in 1988, moved out in September 1989
• Nov.: Folds the Catholic Youth Organization with the sale of its Camp Hauula to the city
• Nov. 29: Bids farewell to retired Bishop of Honolulu John J. Scanlan who moved to California

1988

• Jan. 24: Establishes St. Jude Parish in Makakilo
• Jan. 28: Rejects $42 million offer for St. Augustine Church property
• April 33: Issues “A Pastoral Statement on AIDS for the Roman Catholic Church in Hawaii”
• July 3-10: Makes a second ad limina visit to Rome and the Holy Father
• Sept. 2: Urges Hawaii Catholics to “fast” for 30 days from movies shown at Consolidated Theatres in penance for the theater chain’s showing of “The Last Temptation of Christ,” considered blasphemous by many Christians
• Sept. 30: Dedicates the Big Island’s first shelter for the homeless on land first acquired by the diocese
• Oct. 22: Rededicates the restored Father Damien’s Church (St. Philomena) in Kalawao, Molokai.
• Dec. 1: Announces plan to sell St. Augustine Church for $45 million pending Rome’s approval. Proceeds would pay for a new Waikiki church in Waikiki and add substantially to the church’s social ministry and educational endowments. Rome eventually denied approval

1989

• Jan. 21: Ordains Bertram Lock, SSCC, to the priesthood
• April 15: Presides over an historic centennial celebration of Father Damien’s death in Kalaupapa with 600 attending including Prince Phillipe of Belgium
• May 29: Witnesses the convalidation of 33 marriages in one ceremony at St. John the Baptist Church in Kalihi
• June 11: Rededicates St. Rita Church, Haiku, and Maui.
• June 10: Ordains Benedictine David Barfknecht to the priesthood
• June 16: Issues pastoral letter, “The Sacrament of Christians Themselves,” on the Eucharist and Eucharistic devotions
• Aug. 28-Sept. 22: Attends the Theological Consultation, four weeks of theological updating with 66 other American bishops in Rome
• Nov. 26: Presents 27 volumes of documentation on Mother Marianne Cope to the Vatican postulator for the cause of her canonization
• Dec.: Writes to Hawaii lawmakers inviting them to discuss the Catholic position on abortion and other issues

1990

• Jan. 18: Invites Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago as homilist for the annual Red Mass
• Jan. 27: Blesses the new St. Francis Medical Center West
• Jan. 29: Ordains Edward Popish, SSCC, to the priesthood
• March: Introduces “Parish Renewal Experience” to all parishes
• May 3: Initiates a Catholic weekly radio program, “Nana I Ka Pono,” and is its first guest
• May 25: Grants permission for a weekly Latin Mass at St. James Mission in Palolo
• July 1: Closes six diocesan offices, makes Hawaii Catholic Herald a bi-weekly, trims budget to stem $1 million in deficits
• Aug. 4: Ordains Joseph Grimaldi to the priesthood
• Aug. 24: Announces a yearlong study of Hawaii’s Catholic schools
• Aug. 31: Announces a “Year of Spiritual Preparation” for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the diocese

1991

• Jan. 13: Calls Catholics to “fervent prayer for peace with justice” on the occasion of Operation Desert Storm in Iraq
• April: Commissions a demographic study of the diocese
• May 1: Sends decrees of excommunication to six island Catholics for their persistence in schismatic activities and who, “by their own free choice, removed themselves from the Catholic Church community”
• June 7: Appoints Hawaii’s first full-time Catholic prison chaplain
• July 6: Rededicates St. Joseph Church in Kaupo, Hana, and Maui.
• Aug. 16-17: Convenes “Faith in Action: A Convocation of Catholic Social Teaching and the Church in Hawaii,” marking 100 years of Catholic social teaching
• Sept. 10: Presides over a multi-cultural liturgical celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the Diocese of Honolulu attended by seven bishops and 1,500 guests
• Oct. 1: Presides over first Musical Celebration of Mary and the Rosary at Star of the Sea Church
• Oct. 6: Begins “Called by Name” vocation program in five parishes
• Oct. 13: Establishes the Our Lady of Peace Award for Hawaii for exemplary catechists
• Dec. 7: Celebrates a Mass for peace simultaneously with a Mass offered by Bishop Joseph A. Misue in Hiroshima on the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, issuing a joint “call for peace and reconciliation among all peoples”

1992

• Jan. 3: Issues “The Harvest is Rich but the Workers are Few,” a pastoral letter on vocations
• Jan. 9: Invites retired Archbishop of Seattle Raymond Hunthausen to preach at the annual Red Mass
• Jan. 14: Undergoes quintuple bypass open-heart surgery at St. Francis Medical Center
• May 27: Issues “A Celebrating Church -- A Pastoral Letter on the Holy Day Policy for the Diocese of Honolulu, reducing the number of Holy Days of Obligation and asking parishes to reexamine the celebration of seasons and feasts in the liturgical year
• May 8: Issues the pastoral letter, “Faith in Action: Catholic Social Teaching and the Church in Hawaii,” addressing Native Hawaiians, ethnicity, poverty, housing, family, women, life, environment and conversion
• June 6: Ordains Scott Bush, Marvin Samiano and Konelio Faletoi to the priesthood
• June 29: Marks 10 years as bishop of the diocese with a Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace
• July 4: Reopens doors of newly renovated historic 100-year-old Holy Ghost Church in Kula, Maui
• July 9: Ordains Robert Guerrero to the priesthood
• Aug. 24: Accepts a 100-page master plan for Hawaii Catholic Schools, created to guide the schools into the next century
• Sept. 10: Closes the 50th anniversary year of the diocese with a Mass at the cathedral
• Sept. 11: Publishes, with the department of Religious Education and the Catholic School Department, a comprehensive curriculum for Catholic school religion and parish catechism classes
• Sept. 25: Pledges immediate and long-term assistance to the victims of Hurricane Iniki on Kauai, which devastated the island and caused $11 million in damage to Catholic schools and churches
• Dec. 18: Reestablishes the diocesan Liturgical Commission.

1993

• Jan. 15: Issues statement on Hawaiian sovereignty, which “affirms the right of native people to land, sovereignty and a social and political organization”; begins series of sovereignty educational workshops
• Jan. 21: Invites Archbishop John Quinn of San Francisco to preach at the annual Red Mass
• Jan. 27: Blesses the new $5.5 million Ka Hale Ake Ola, Maui Catholic Charities homeless resource center
• Feb. 12: Announces the “Servant Leadership Training” program for the training of lay ministers
• June 4: Appoints the diocese’s first Pastoral Council, a consultative body made up of 29 laypersons, clergy and religious
• June 12: Ordains Stephen Macedo to the priesthood
• July 2: Announces the Vatican’s decision not to sustain the decree of ex-communication against six Catholics, but to recommend the imposition of the penalty of interdict
• Aug. 15: Celebrates the 150th anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.
• Oct. 12: Retires as Bishop of Honolulu, citing health reasons