Missionary Trip to Hawaii—Reported by Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro-Carámbula, October 20-31, 2010

From October 20 through October 31, I visited the state of Hawaii to preach the Gospel of Life. This state should be a priority in the pro-life apostolate. It is unfortunate that the natural beauty the Lord has given to this land has not caused a significant number of its political leaders to accept and cherish the beautiful gift of human life nor to defend natural marriage between a man and a woman. One of the members of Hawaii Right to Life told me, very much to her regret, that Hawaii could be considered one of the worst states in the Union with regards to the protection of life and marriage.

Monsignor Barreiro with Henry Fucini and other pro-lifers of Hawaii.

This trip was accomplished with the blessings and hospitality of His Excellency Clarence Silva, the Bishop of Honolulu, and it was organized by many dedicated pro-lifers, including Ruth Prinzivalli and Mary Smart of the Pearson Foundation Pregnancy Centers, Janet Grace and Karen DiCostanzo of Hawaii Right to Life, and my old friend from New York, Henry Fucini, and his wife Janice. Henry has always worked closely with diocesan authorities and is one of the lay organizers for the celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite in Honolulu.

Presentations in Parishes

On the island of Oahu, I gave presentations at well-organized meetings in

several parishes: St. Ann in Kaneohe, St. Joseph in Waipahu, and the chapel of Chaminade University in Honolulu. I also presented at St. Anthony in Wailuku on the island of Maui. In all, I spoke to more than 400 people. Along with the many Catholics in attendance, there were a substantial number of Protestants, and even though I was the main presenter, several Protestant pastors gave talks and showed remarkable zeal for the defense of life and family. In particular, Pastor Robb Finberg, who is a Jewish convert, made a very impressive presentation at St. Anthony’s. I had opportunities to exchange ideas with several pro-life political candidates at each of the events.

My presentations underlined how the main gift of God is creation. I strove to demonstrate how the material world and human life are the consequence of the loving and intelligent design of a provident Creator. In the material world, God has given us the appropriate dwelling for human life. Our loving God makes us administrators of both the material creation and of His highest gift, which is human life. At the base of our defense of life and family is the understanding that we are stewards of those gifts, not owners. If much has been said in recent years about our duties as custodians of the material environment, further reasoning requires us to protect God’s intention for the very existence of this material world, which is human life.

With the gift of creation, God implants His law in our intellects and hearts—a law that becomes part of our nature and teaches us how to use this gift of creation. God’s law teaches us how to form our conscience. We are supposed to act always on the basis of a rightly formed conscience, but the content of that conscience is not for us to decide; our consciences must be formed by God’s law and by the constant teachings of the Church, which make explicit the teachings of natural law.

On the basis of these principles, we should defend life from the moment of conception (or the biological beginning of the human being) to its natural end, and also defend natural marriage between a man and woman (with the purpose of generating and educating children and for the mutual support of the spouses).  In my presentations, I pointed out how Pope John Paul II wrote in Christifideles Lacici (no. 38), “… the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture – is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and conditional for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination.” I showed how many of the social disorders we experience today, such as child and spouse abuse, murder, etc., can be traced back to the devaluing of the gift of life through acceptance of mechanical and chemical measures of preventing pregnancy, God’s gift to mankind.  I quoted several documents of the recent Magisterium and in particular the Doctrinal Note of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life, of November 2, 2002. I also mentioned another important document of this same Congregation, Consideration regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons, of July 31, 2003. I concluded my presentations by explaining the serious and grave political responsibility of Christians to act in accordance with their faith by voting only for candidates that are ready to uphold the teachings of natural law and the Church on life and marriage.

St. Damien of Molokai

Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro-Carámbula offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in St. Philomena Church, a small chapel built by St. Damien of Molokai in the leprosarium of Kaluapapa.

I have always thought that it is important for a person to know the history of the places he visits in order to better preach the Gospel there, so during my visit I had the opportunity to explore some important historical sites. The high point of the trip was being able to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in St. Philomena Church, a small chapel built by St. Damien of Molokai in the leprosarium of Kaluapapa, where sufferers of leprosy were forced to live. We flew with a group of friends from Honolulu in a small Cessna dual propeller plane that was more than 30 years old. (The pilot was a retired Air Force officer, who explained that this model had been used in the Vietnam War as a spotter plane and that he had flown such planes in Vietnam, putting his life in serious jeopardy for the service of his country.)

The isolation colony of Kaluapapa is on a peninsula, separated from the rest of the island by insurmountable cliffs that prevented the inhabitants from leaving.  The influence of St. Damien’s powerful witness to life and holiness still permeates the people and island where he sacrificed so much to serve and evangelize those cast aside by society.  His

St. Damien of Molokai’s gravesite.

statue stands at the entrance of Hawaii’s capitol building, and despite being somewhat modern for my taste, it expresses the prestige that this great man has in the islands. Hawaii has also placed a statue of St. Damien in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. During my visit to the former leper colony, two things struck me: first, the stark contrast between the magnificent natural beauty of the island and the terrible human suffering that was endured there; second, the thousands of tombs and headstones that you could see all over the peninsula, that led me and my companions to pray for the souls of all those people. I was told by our guide that more than 8,000 persons are registered as having died at Kaluapapa.

Signs of Hope

I celebrated daily Masses at St. Steven Chapel of the Diocesan Center on Oahu; an average of 20 persons attended every day. I was also able to offer Sunday Mass for the Latin Mass Community, where well over 120 were in attendance and my homily was on the political responsibility of Catholics. I was impressed to see how well trained the altar servers were and the quality of the choir in this fervent community. I was also moved by several large families that were present with nine, eight and seven children. To see large families at Mass is a great sign of hope for the Church.

On Friday, October 29, I had the pleasure of being invited to lunch by Bishop Silva. We had a significant conversation about his long pastoral experience and his concerns for the future of the United States. I expressed my desire to help the Diocese of Honolulu in promoting the Gospel of Life. He asked me what the biggest challenge is that confronts HLI in our pro-life apostolate, and I explained it is how priests in many places do not preach the Gospel of Life in its full integrity. This is especially true when priests do not give enough emphasis in their homilies on the critical importance of the protection of human life, the duty of families to be generous with the transmission of life, and the obligation to avoid immoral means of family planning.

On the weekend that immediately preceded the nationwide elections of November 2, Bishop Silva requested that a pulpit announcement be read in all the parishes of his diocese. It asked parishioners to participate in the mid-term elections and to vote in accordance with Gospel values, mentioning in the first place the sanctity of human life and the sacredness of God’s plan for marriage and family. It is especially praiseworthy that Bishop Silva made this explicit call to Catholics to fulfill their duties as members of the political society, and after such great experiences while visiting Hawaii, I will be ready to return in the future to those beautiful islands, if it is God’s will, to continue preaching the Gospel of Life.