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CURRENT ISSUE: July 4, 2005
VOL.
43, NO. 13Oakland,
CA
Father Silva to be ordained bishop of Honolulu, July 21
Father Clarence (Larry) Silva, vicar general of the
Diocese of Oakland since 2003, will be ordained and installed as bishop
of Honolulu on July 21.
San Francisco Archbishop William Levada, newly appointed prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, will serve as principal
consecrator during the 4:30 p.m. ceremony at the Neil Blaisdell Center
Arena in Honolulu. Oakland Bishop Allen H. Vigneron and Oakland Bishop
Emeritus John S. Cummins will serve as co-consecrators. Also participating
will be Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
As Honolulu’s fifth bishop, Father Silva will lead a diocese with
51 active priests, 60 parishes, and 30 missions. The diocese has been
without a bishop for over a year, since Bishop Francis X. Di Lorenzo left
in May 2004 to become bishop of Richmond, Va.
Born in Honolulu in 1949, Father Silva came to California as an infant,
but often returned with his family to visit relatives. His ancestors moved
to Honolulu from the Azores 125 years ago. After graduating from Bishop
O’Dowd High School, he studied for the priesthood at St. Patrick
Seminary in Menlo Park and was ordained for the Oakland Diocese on May
2, 1975.
Before being appointed vicar general, Father Silva served as diocesan
director of vocations, as an associate pastor at St. Bernard in Oakland,
Our Lady of the Rosary in Union City, and St. Bede in Hayward, and as
pastor at St. Peter Martyr in Pittsburg, St. Anthony in Oakland, St. John
the Baptist in El Cerrito, St. Patrick and St. Andrew-St. Joseph, both
in Oakland, and Our Lady of Guadalupe in Fremont.
His Fremont appointment occurred after Father Pascual Ramirez, pastor
of St. Leonard Parish, died in a 1999 car accident. Father Silva was assigned
to help facilitate the merger of St. Leonard and neighboring Santa Paula
Parish in Fremont into the single parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Father John Prochaska, the parish’s current pastor, will attend
Bishop-elect Silva’s ordination in Hawaii. Father Prochaska called
him “the perfect choice. He has a lot of administrative experience
and he is very skilled at connecting with people.”
Bishop-elect Silva warmly greets a member of the Honolulu Diocese.HAWAII
CATHOLIC HERALD PHOTO
