Bishop Clarence "Larry" Silva was ordained and installed as leader of the Honolulu Diocese on Thursday, when hundreds gathered at Blaisdell Arena to see the "local boy" ascend to the leadership of the Roman Catholic community in Hawai'i.

Silva was born in Hawai'i with local ties tracing back to his great-grandparents who arrived as children of immigrant sugar plantation workers.

His family moved from their Kailua home to California when Silva was just a year old. Silva kept his connection to Hawai'i through friends he gained in seminary who were from the Islands. He also developed an affinity for all things Hawaiian, and several of his former classmates are now priests in Hawai'i.

After graduating in 1975 from St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, Calif., Silva served at 10 churches until taking a position with the Diocese of Oakland.

Now that he is bishop of the Diocese of Honolulu, many are excited about the leadership he will bring mainly because of his cultural understanding of the Islands.

KAILUA, O'AHU

POPULATION: 36,513

MEDIAN AGE: 39.1

CHILDREN: 8,814

65 AND OLDER: 5,010

TOTAL HOUSEHOLDS: 12,229

MARRIED-COUPLE HOUSEHOLDS: 7,244

AVERAGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE PER HOUSEHOLD: 2.98

AVERAGE FAMILY SIZE: 3.33

HOMEOWNERSHIP: 8,521

Race: White, 16,008, 43.8%; Asian 7,709, 21.1%; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 2,947, 8.1%, other, 27%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau