The Rev. Clarence "Larry" Silva will take the helm as the new bishop of Hawai'i's Roman Catholic community this week, and those who know the quiet priest say the many challenges he faces here will put his low-key style of leadership to the test.

Hawai'i's Catholic diocese faces the same problems as dioceses across the country: members being drawn to more evangelical churches or leaving religion altogether, and a worsening shortage of priests.

But as he sat in a pew at the stately Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in downtown Honolulu on Wednesday, the 55-year-old Silva was serene and said he's ready for the job. He'll lead the Islands' largest religious denomination, a diocese of 230,000 members in 66 parishes and 28 missions.

"I know it's a very alive and active diocese," Silva said. "There are lots of people committed and involved in the parish and the ministries, the community groups and the Legislature.

"One thing we can easily forget is that it's all about Jesus and the encounter with the risen Christ among us. Sometimes we get caught up in the external rituals but really it's all about the internal dialogue."

Silva was born in Hawai'i and has roots that date to great-grandparents who arrived as the children of immigrant sugar plantation workers. He was a year old when his family moved from their Kailua home to California. His father, Richard Silva, was an electrician and his mother, Catherine Alves Silva, was a homemaker.

Even though Hawai'i was a distant memory for Silva as he was growing up, he had an affinity for things Hawaiian. While in the seminary he befriended many seminarians and students from Hawai'i.

Several of his former classmates are now priests in Hawai'i.

"He always joined in on our Hawaiian songs and talk," said comedian Frank DeLima, who also was a seminarian with Silva. "He'd share with us the local food that would come to us by mail. Larry was very interested in all of that and fit in perfectly with the Hawaiian group.

"He had a spark of light in his eye — a twinkle — whenever the subject of Hawai'i came up."

After graduating in 1975 from St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, Calif., Silva began parish work and was an associate pastor or pastor at 10 churches until late 2003, when he was named vicar general of the Oakland diocese.

"It was pretty much of a shock to us when Larry told us he was asked to be bishop of Honolulu," said Silva's brother Len Silva from his home in California. "We had no idea how the selection process worked. It is even more of a shock because of our roots."

Larry Silva said he learned more about his roots as an adult and visited the Islands at least once a year. "Larry always felt tied to the Islands, more so than I ever did," Len Silva said.

BRINGING 'NEW LIFE'

Some say it will be the new bishop's knowledge of Hawaiian culture that will help him as he takes the helm of the diocese.

Others say it is his long experience in parish work that will make a big difference. Previous Honolulu bishops have come to the job with much more administrative experience than Silva.

The Rev. Gary Secor, vocation director for the Honolulu diocese, believes Silva will breathe new life into the diocese. Because Silva has a strong background in parish work, he understands the needs of the people, Secor said.

"In many ways, this is one of the best things that could have happened to our local church," he said. "Here we have someone who has relatives here and has been connected to our local church over the years so he has a strong sense of the culture here and is sensitive to that."

"I imagine I'm going to approach things differently," Silva said of his management style. "I have a good understanding of what life's like in a parish."

"Bishop Larry has good experience," said the Rev. Nathan Mamo, a priest from Hawai'i who is now pastor of a parish in California. Mamo, an outspoken critic of the previous Honolulu bishop, the Most Rev. Francis X. DiLorenzo, said the diocese needs to be seen "through a new pair of glasses."

Mamo said clergy morale "is a huge problem in Hawai'i." He also said Silva is inheriting an organizational structure "that has an institutional problem of people who are in power for too long."

RETURNING TO BASICS

The new bishop is a tall, soft-spoken man with genteel manners and thoughtful answers.

Bishop Larry, as he likes to be called — Clarence is just too formal a name — said that during his tenure he wants to get back to basics. That means infusing parish priests with spirituality and making their work the vocation it's supposed to be, not just a job.

"I want to work with the priests," Silva said. "I want to get them to think they are not just working, but are icons of the church.

"I want to give them time to focus on the purpose of their belief."

He said he plans to hold informal get-togethers with the priests in the diocese.

And Silva said women will have an important role. While it will take a change in doctrine before women can become priests, Silva does plan to have an equal number of women on his Pastoral Council — a group of 25 advisers that he appoints.

In order to encourage more people to return to the church, Silva said, he feels the Catholic Church needs to become more evangelical, to reach out more to those who have left the church. Tackling the issue of encouraging parishioners to return to the pews, Silva said will require a bit less emphasis on the rituals and more stress on the message.

"When you're developing a new structure, you have to go back to basics," Silva said. "Like a business, I see a mission statement and a reacquaintance with our faith."

The decline in the number of men studying for the priesthood is a major problem for the Hawai'i diocese, which has brought in priests from foreign countries to staff some parishes. Having native clergy is always preferable, Silva said, but he noted that foreign priests are valuable when a parish is predominantly immigrant. A priest from another country can celebrate Mass in the congregation's native language and approach parishioners in a culturally sensitive manner, he said.

"There just needs to be a balance between native priests and international priests," Silva said.

Unfortunately, there may be more clustering — combining of parishes — in the future of the Hawai'i diocese, he said.

It is an unfortunate reality, said Silva, who worked through clustering of churches in California.

"Where there once was a thriving parish, it may have to be adjusted," Silva said. "For those that remain, it will be hard."

In the short time he's been in Hawai'i, Silva said, he already can tell that population growth in Leeward O'ahu means there's a need for more churches in the Kapolei area as well as on Moloka'i.

One issue that continues to face the church, both nationally and locally, is the clergy sex abuse scandal.

That controversy is not new for Silva. While he was in California, a former priest was arrested and charged with sexually abusing three young girls decades ago. A year later another priest was charged with committing lewd acts on a teenager in 1979. Silva encouraged his parishioners to come forward and report to the Oakland diocese if they knew of any other abuse cases.

As bishop, many will look to Silva's decisions and actions in an effort to categorize him. He resists being labeled as liberal or conservative, however.

"I don't have a label. I am conservative in some things and liberal in others. I don't think labels are useful," he said.

However composed Silva is about his daunting new role, there is one worry he admits to in the coming week.

As he kneels before Archbishop William J. Levada and the other ordaining bishops for the solemn rite of ordination, Silva said he is worried that he might choke up like he did when he was ordained as a priest more than 30 years ago.