Bishop Larry Silva has assigned seven priests new to the islands to parishes on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. All except one are from the Philippines.

With these new placements, listed in the official notices of this issue of the Hawaii Catholic Herald, the number of clergy from the Philippines working in Hawaii tops the number of active priests belonging to the Diocese of Honolulu.

The bishop has also appointed a diocesan priest from the Philippines who has been here two years to be the new administrator of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Pearl City, replacing the Capuchin Franciscans.

Father Pascual Abaya, associate pastor of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, will head the Pearl City parish starting July 1. Father Abaya has been a priest of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia in the Philippines for 12 years. He came to Hawaii in July 2006 and is one of seven priests from Nueva Segovia “on