By Patrick Downes | Hawaii Catholic Herald
Shortly after the diocese ordains one local priest on June 29, it will import five from the Philippines. That’s how it goes in Hawaii. While local clergy have grown scarce, there is no shortage of priests from foreign countries willing to work here.
The obvious benefit to this arrangement is that every parish gets a priest. The downside is that it is not always an easy fit. Differences in customs, culture, law, language, food, and social interaction can cause difficulties.
To address those problems, the Office of Clergy is organizing two orientation sessions for international priests. The first is June 30-July 1, the second is in November.
According to the vicar for clergy Father Khanh Hoang, who heads the Office of Clergy, the sessions are for priests whose ordination or seminary training took place in a foreign country and who have been in Hawaii a relatively short period of time.
That’s a third of the Catholic priests working in Hawaii, he said.
(Hawaii does have several foreign-ordained priests who have worked in the United States for decades.)
Most of those invited to the sessions are from the Philippines. Others come from Korea, Indonesia, Columbia, China and countries in Africa.
Most of the foreign diocesan priests are in Hawaii for three years according to agreements the Honolulu diocese has with their bishops. About 10 dioceses in the Philippines have such arrangements with the Diocese of Honolulu. Religious order priests generally stay longer as members of their Hawaii communities.
Thirty priests, both diocesan and religious, have been invited to participate in the June 30-July 1 session, although Father Hoang is unsure how many will attend since the program is voluntary.
But orientation for foreign priests does not wait for group sessions. It starts soon after they get off the plane.
The Office of Clergy has a two-page, 18-point check-off list appropriately titled: “Things to do for Incoming International Priests.”
The “things to do” include applying for a social security number, getting a Department of Health license to perform marriages, taking a “safe environment” (protection of minors from sexual abuse) course, applying for a Hawaii driver’s license, opening a checking account, completing a priest personnel data form, getting your picture taken at the Hawaii Catholic Herald office, and scheduling an appointment to see the bishop.
That’s the simple stuff. It gets harder when the priest is assigned to run an American parish. Sometimes the expectations between priest and parishioner don’t mesh, or maybe even clash.
It can be as basic as a priest’s heavy accent or as sensitive as his bedside manner at the hospital.
Using the example of a hospital visit, Father Hoang said that where one culture may train a priest simply to anoint the patient and move on, in America, in addition to administering the sacraments, the priest it also expected to counsel the family and perhaps consult with the doctors and nurses.
“Pastoral issues and pastoral care are big challenges,” Father Hoang said.
The June 30-July 1 session will have Marianist Father Bill Meyer of San Antonio speaking on the pastoral role of the priest in accompanying his people in their spiritual and human journeys.
The session will also include a debriefing and participation in a survey from CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate) a Catholic research center at Georgetown University.
The November orientation promises to address American and local culture, the priest’s role in the American church, communications, parish structure and finances, and social issues among other things.
“The most difficult challenge is dealing with each individual priest,” Father Hoang said. Some comprehend the culture quicker than others.
But for some it can be “very overwhelming,” he said. “There is an incredible amount of information to learn.”