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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Tuesday, May 17, 2005

New bishop chosen for Honolulu Diocese

 •  'Miracle' woman meets the pope
Vatican photo gallery

By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion and Ethics Writer

The Rev. Clarence Larry Silva, a Hawai'i-born priest who serves as vicar general of the Diocese of Oakland in California, has been named bishop of the Diocese of Honolulu, the Vatican announced today.

Clarence Larry Silva

A press conference to introduce Silva is scheduled this morning, and he is scheduled to preside at noon Mass tomorrow at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.

Silva, who has relatives here, was described as good-natured as speculation grew yesterday that he would be named.

"If it is him, Larry's a prince, a very sweet guy, very affable," said the Rev. Dennis Koshko, pastor at St. Anthony Church in Kailua, who was a classmate with Silva in Menlo Park, Calif. "He doesn't put on airs. We'd be blessed."

The Diocese of Honolulu serves the state's largest faith group, Roman Catholics, estimated at about 225,000, or roughly a quarter of Hawai'i's population.

Hawai'i had been without a bishop at its helm for almost a year since Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo vacated his seat to become bishop of the Diocese of Richmond, Va. DiLorenzo had been in the Islands about a decade before leaving.

For the past year, the Very Rev. Thomas Gross, the vicar general and pastor of St. John Vianney parish in Enchanted Lake, has served as diocesan administrator. The lack of a bishop, however, meant that some diocese business could not be addressed: No appointments of pastors can be made and certain other official decisions are kept in check.

While Gross could not confirm the name of the new bishop yesterday, he did say he was glad for the news.

"We've been waiting a long time," Gross said.

DiLorenzo, who had been a priest in Pennsylvania before becoming bishop in Hawai'i, left on May 24.

Priests in the diocese were happy to hear yesterday the announcement was near.

"In my own daily intercessions, I pray for someone to be appointed, so I'm glad we actually have somebody," said the Rev. John Berger, administrator for the cathedral.

The new bishop will head the diocese and its 66 churches and 30 missions. Of the 137 priests — 52 of them called "active diocesan priests," 10 are diocesan priests on duty elsewhere, such as chaplains in the military; the rest are priests from 13 different religious orders.

As vicar general in Oakland, Silva was in one of the top posts in the administration.

"He goes to Hawai'i every year," said the Rev. Seamus Genovase, a classmate of Silva's who worked with him in Oakland. "Certainly, he's a man of tremendous integrity. If I wanted to trust something with him, I would have no problem with that."

Genovase said Silva had only been the vicar general of the Diocese of Oakland for less than two years. The California diocese has 88 parishes, between 450,000 and 500,000 Catholics.

"It's larger than San Francisco and second only to Los Angeles," he said, adding that Silva has been a priest for 30 years.

Reach Mary Kaye Ritz at mritz@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8035.