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Second Collection for the Priests' Retirement to be held on November 7-8, 2020

September 10, 2020

To the People of the Diocese of Honolulu regarding Priests’ Retirement Collection

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Peace be with you!

Imagine how many thousands of Masses they celebrated so that we could be nourished with the Bread of Life; how many thousands of confessions they heard to reconcile us sinners with our merciful Lord and each other.  Ponder on the hundreds of people on whom the saving waters of Baptism were poured out by their hands; on the countless couples they witnessed joining themselves together as one in holy Matrimony; or the scores upon scores of sick people they visited with the healing sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.  Our retired priests dedicated themselves over many years to the service of God’s beloved people, and we are grateful for the service they have rendered to our community.

The retired priests who belong to the Diocese of Honolulu continue to minister in many ways, albeit different and perhaps more hidden ways.  Though they no longer draw an income from the parishes they served, they still need our support for their sustenance, housing, medical and dental insurance, and other needs as they move into their elder years.  The diocese has a pension fund, but, like many such funds, it is nowhere near being fully funded to meet all the needs of our present and future retired priests.  And so we are turning to all of you who are members of this diocese to help support our retired priests.  The weekend of November 7/8, 2020, we will hold our first annual Collection for Retired Diocesan Priests so that we can build up our pension fund for the future.  Already we have received a generous donation of $3,000 from the Serra Club of Honolulu, whose mission is to foster vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.  They normally treat the priests to a wonderful dinner each year, but with this year’s pandemic restrictions, they decided to honor our priests with their donation to the Priests’ Retirement Fund.

We know how generous you are in supporting all the needs of our Church, and we thank you in advance for showing your love and gratitude to our retired priests by supporting them in their retirement.  May the Lord bless you always!

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Larry Silva
Bishop of Honolulu

P.S.  There may be some confusion between this first annual collection for Retired Diocesan Priests and the collection taken up in December for several decades now for “Religious Retirement.”  The latter collection is also very important, but none of it goes to our retired diocesan priests.  Instead it is used to fund the retirement needs of Sisters, Brothers and priests of religious orders who served us so well in the past at very low wages, and who now are in need of our support.  We thank you for your generosity to both collections!