Priest will run diocese in interim
By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion & ethics Writer
For the first time, the Diocese of Honolulu will be run by a priest until a new bishop is chosen by Pope John Paul II.
On March 31, Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo was appointed to become the bishop of Richmond, Va. DiLorenzo will be installed May 24.
On previous occasions when there was a change in bishops in Hawai'i, a papal announcement of a diocesan administrator determined who would run the diocese. This time, a different approach is being taken.
A "college of consultors" — a group of 10 local priests, including the two vicars general and vicars forane (priests who coordinated communications within different areas in Hawai'i) — will elect the diocesan administrator on May 28. In the four-day interval between when DiLorenzo leaves and the administrator takes over, the group itself will be in charge of the diocese.
This is the usual approach, explained the Very Rev. Joe Grimaldi, who serves as the judicial vicar for the diocese, "though in the past in Honolulu, it's been different."
"It's in canon law, but most of the time it only functions in the case when the (outgoing) bishop does not name an administrator, and in this case, he did not do that," said the Rev. Halbert Weidner, pastor at Holy Trinity, adding: "I was very surprised."
The administrator can be either a diocesan or religious order priest, but cannot make any major changes, according to canon law — "no innovations," Weidner said.
"And no major acts of administration," Grimaldi added.
Priests who had already been assigned to new parishes will still be allowed to take over, but they will be called "parish administrators" rather than pastors. And the two priests who were to become diocesan priests will have their incardination on hold.
Both Grimaldi and Weidner said they expect it to take anywhere from six to 12 months for a new bishop to be chosen.
"But that's just a guess," Grimaldi said.
As a member of the college of consultors, Weidner has begun canvassing priests and lay people for their opinions on who should be chosen.
"Since it's the first time we have ever done this, I'd like to hear what people think," he said.
