HawaiiCatholicHerald.com is back

The Hawaii Catholic Herald has seen its share of “new” things in the last several months. A new Hawaii saint in October. A new pope in March …

And now we can add to that list a new HCH website!

We know how much of a beloved resource HawaiiCatholicHerald.com has been for article archives and digital sharing of our latest HCH stories. A server crash — which we still aren’t aware of its cause — unfortunately resulted in the loss of virtually all of our web data last year. After a little bit of work, however, we’ve finally got the domain up and running again.

Thanks to all of our readers who continually kept tabs on the website and waited patiently for its return!

Here’s a look at some of the new features available at HawaiiCatholicHerald.com:

The Main Page:

• A rotating “photo-slider” showcases four of the featured stories in the latest HCH edition. Clicking on the titles in the photo-slider will take you to the full text of the article.
• The latest HCH stories are listed with excerpts in the main content area.
• Check out video reports by Catholic News Service in the sidebar. These are updated daily, and are chock-full of information on what’s going on at the Vatican, in other U.S. dioceses and around the world.
• At the top of the page are links to article archives sorted by category.

Scroll down to the bottom of the main page, and you’ll find our most recent Manaolana headlines in the green featured area.

The “widget” sidebar:

• Links to the day’s stories from Catholic News Service are regularly updated.
• Download our “Parish and School News” pages in PDF format.
• Click on the link to our HCH “e-Edition,” where you can view the entire Herald newspaper in digital format.
• Our social media widgets … don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and here on WordPress!

Highlighted in a red circle in the above photo is the byline of all our authors. Clicking on each author’s name will lead you to an archive listing of all of his or her posts.

And you can subscribe to the Herald online! Under the “Subscriptions” link in the top navigation bar, there are online forms you can quickly fill out in order to receive the HCH print edition. (You can also fill out a form for gift subscriptions to be sent to friends and relatives.)

There are dozens of other neat features on our new site, so please stop by and take a look. Bookmark the page or subscribe to e-mail updates to stay connected.

And let us know what you think of the site!

Habemus Papam! Live from the Hawaii Catholic Herald Office

Here’s an inside glimpse into happenings at the Hawaii Catholic Herald Office on this momentous day…

8:27 a.m.  Pope App tweet:  white smoke

Our Lady of Peace Cathedral Bells rung

All computers in the office focused on Vatican Radio Live, and other programs

Pat Downe’s telephone rings almost off the hook.  He steps out for a live interview with Hawaii News Now via his cellphone.  Darlene Delacruz steps in to answer his office phone.

8:57 a.m. Pat looks out window to see if Bishop Larry’s car is here (Chancery).  No.

9:00 a.m. KITV calls

Pat pulls up a list of all of the Cardinals names in Italian and cues us to listen closely for the announcement so that we can match the English name of the new Pope.

Bands arrive; Swiss guards

Check out Catholic News Service tweets

9:12 a.m.   Habemus Papam!  Cardinal announces

9:13 a.m.  Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio

9:16 a.m.  He will be known as Pope Francis

9:22 a.m.  Pope Francis I emerges.  He offers a prayer for Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI and calls for brotherhood in the church.

9:29 a.m.  He asks the crowd to pray to God to bless him before he blesses them.  Silence follows as everyone bows their head in prayer.  In his address that follows, hes says, “Let’s begin this new journey in brotherhood, service and trust.”

9:30 a.m.  He takes leave of the crowd saying, “Good night and God bless.”

9:37 a.m.  The phone continues to ring.  Pat begins working on finishing this week’s Hawaii Catholic Herald for press.  He specifically delayed going to press this week in order to bring you this historic and exciting news, like the most delicious fresh and nourishing bread,hot off the press by this weekend.  We pray for Pope Francis!

from the Hawaii Catholic Herald Office

For a slideshow of events:  http://abcnews.go.com/?utm_content=popebenedictfarewell&utm_medium=search&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=guptamedia&utm_term=%2Bpope

Ecumenism, pro-life, and more

If you have some free afternoons and evenings in the coming days, consider attending some of the following functions:

-”Luminaries” at the State Capitol: This evening (1/22) at 6 p.m. the Pearson Foundation of Hawaii, which runs the Pregnancy Problem Centers, is sponsoring a luminary ceremony in honor of babies lost to abortion. The event coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the U.S. The Pearson foundation plans to place 1,000 luminaries — paper bags illuminated by a candle placed inside — around the state capitol. You can purchase a luminary for $5 each; proceeds go toward the Pregnancy Problem Centers. (Maui recently closed its only Pregnancy Problem Center back in October; only two remain on Oahu).

-St. Marianne Mass: Tomorrow (1/23) marks the feast day of Mother Marianne Cope. It’s her first feast day celebrated as a saint. It also would have been her 175th birthday. Join Bishop Larry Silva at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace at 6 p.m. for a special liturgy in her honor.

-Ecumenical Worship Service: It’s the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,” an annual ecumenical commemoration that usually happens every January. Each year in Hawaii, local leaders from different Christian denominations gather at a church to worship together, and congregants engage in lively fellowship. Last year, Bishop Larry served as the main speaker at the Ecumenical Worship Service. This year, the service is being held in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace on Thursday (1/24) at 6:30 p.m. The homilist for the Prayer service is Rev. Jeff M. Lilley, Senior Pastor at Lutheran Church of Honolulu.

-March for Life: The annual March for Life event will be held at the State Capitol on Saturday (1/26) from 1-5 p.m. There will be local entertainers, games, sign-waving and a march around the capitol vicinity.

Will you be attending any of the events this week?

Two Kalaupapa Tributes to the “Rising Star” – St. Marianne Cope

Friday, January 18th’s Hawaii Catholic Herald features the celebration of St. Marianne back at her Kalaupapa home.

In the first video clip, the patients and government workers of the hula halau Na Wahine o Kalawao gracefully, beautifully and prayerfully pay tribute to St. Marianne with their dance to the hymn to “Saint Marianne” composed by Patrick Downes.  In the second video clip, in his homily  Bishop Larry Silva, shares a powerful reflection on the living lesson of Saint Marianne Cope as a rising star for our example today.

One more saintly celebration

Today, several hundred people traveled to Kalaupapa for one last celebration to honor St. Marianne Cope.

I’m at the Kalaupapa Airport with dozens of clergy, Sisters of St. Francis, and some familiar faces from our Rome pilgrimage. We’re among those about to head back to Honolulu. (There will be many small charter flights shuttling guests out of the peninsula until the evening.)

Here’s a shot of Bishop Larry with some notable visitors. Cardinal Timothy Dolan was here, along with Bishop Robert Cunningham of Syracuse, and Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S. Carlo Maria Vigano.

We started off the day with Mass at Bishop Home. The congregation sat under a huge tent. Thankfully the weather held up well!

Here’s a shot of Cardinal Dolan at the Mass.

Afterward we had a festive luau and a showing of a snippet from November’s Song.

St. Marianne’s feast day is coming up on Jan. 23.

Of faith and football

It’s an exciting day for fans of Catholic collegiate sports. The University of Notre Dame football team will be facing off against Alabama for the BCS Championship at 3 p.m. Hawaii time. (Set your TV to ESPN.)

The game holds some significance in the Islands, especially with local boy Manti Te’o leading Notre Dame’s defense. We’re also home to dozens of die-hard ND alumni and supporters who have followed the school’s undefeated season this year.

Even if you’re not too big into football, there’s still a lot to appreciate in the many storylines of players from both teams who perform with passion and tenacity both on and off the field.

Need to brush up on the facts before the game? Below is an excerpt of a table comparison on the two championship teams — you can find the full “Tale of the tape” at ESPN.com

Good luck, Fighting Irish!!!

Tale of the tape: Alabama vs. Notre Dame

	Notre Dame	Alabama
Location	South Bend, Ind.	Tuscaloosa, Ala.
City population	101,081	91,605
County	St. Joseph	Tuscaloosa
City best known for its	Football	Ribs
Best postgame meal	Parisi’s	Dreamland
School enrollment	11,816	31,747
Founded	1842	1831
First year of football	1887	1892
All-time record	865-299-42	826-321-43
Number of times on NCAA probation	3	1
Colors	Blue and gold	Crimson and white
Home stadium capacity	80,795	101,821
Football graduation rate	97 percent	75 percent
Campus landmark	Golden Dome	Paul W. Bryant Museum
Most famous football landmark	Touchdown Jesus	Paul “Bear” Bryant statue