Isle presence felt at
Cope beatification

Dozens from Hawaii play roles
in the Vatican ceremony

More than 60 Hawaii residents were among the crowd of thousands at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome this morning to witness the beatification of Mother Marianne Cope.

Several island pilgrims had roles in the ceremony to recognize the Franciscan nun who answered the Kingdom of Hawaii's call for help in caring for leprosy victims during the 19th-century epidemic. Cope was declared "blessed" in the second of three steps to be named a saint by the Catholic Church.

The event began at 5 p.m. in Rome -- 6 a.m. today Hawaii time. There were Hawaiian threads throughout the traditional Vatican pageantry.

» A choir of 40 Franciscan sisters and members of Oahu parishes was to sing "How Great Thou Art" in Hawaiian and "Makalapua," a Charles E. King composition that was a favorite of Cope's, before and after the Mass.

» Norman Nakamoto, in the uniform of the Royal Order of Kamehameha, was to present a maile lei to Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, who presided at the Mass.

» Sister Davilyn Ah Chick, principal of Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Ewa Beach, had a role in reading a prayer petition for suffering people, especially leprosy victims.

» Sister William Marie Eleniki, Hawaii administrator of the Franciscans, would translate the petition into the Hawaiian language.

» Former Hansen's disease patient Winnie Harada was to carry the Communion bread to the altar during the offertory of the Mass.

The event was televised live by Eternal Word Television Network and shown at 5 a.m. today on Channel 28 on the Big Island. An Oceanic Time Warner spokeswoman said EWTN is not usually offered on Oahu, but it was shown at 5 a.m. today on Channel 78 in response to a special request. Computer users with Internet access can see it repeated at 5 p.m. on streaming video at www.ewtn.com.

Sister Grace Jose Capellas of Honolulu said local sisters who did not make the trip are counting on friends to videotape the beatification for later viewing.

"I hope the real Mother Marianne won't get lost in the show," said Capellas. "I always felt she is not excited about the hoopla."

As arts coordinator at St. Francis Medical Center, Capellas has charge of the archives that contain letters written by sisters who knew Cope.

"The letters give a fascinating personal view of Mother Marianne," said Capellas, one of generations of nuns who have worked in the Hawaii hospitals and schools that are the legacy of Cope and the Franciscan nuns she brought to Hawaii in 1883.

The Hawaii contingent in Rome includes 18 of the 46 Hawaii-based members of the Sisters of St. Francis. About 350 Americans traveled to Rome for the event, including nuns from the religious order's headquarters in Syracuse, N.Y. Syracuse Catholic Bishop James Moynihan concelebrated the Mass with Martins, who heads the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Alongside a banner depicting Cope that hangs in St. Peter's Square today is another showing Sister Florentina Nicol Goni, also known as Mother Ascension del Corazon de Jesus, founder of the Dominican Missionaries of the Rosary in Spain, who was also beatified today.

An evening candlelight service is planned in Kalaupapa tonight at the Mother Marianne memorial. The bones of the nun, who died in 1918, were removed from the site in January and taken to Syracuse, where a shrine will be built.

Fewer than 30 former leprosy patients, along with state Department of Health and National Park Service employees, still live on the remote Molokai peninsula that was a place of banishment for about 8,000 victims of the disease. Kalaupapa is now a National Historic Park.

Cope will also be remembered at the 9 a.m. Mass tomorrow at St. Francis Church in Kalaupapa, with members of the St. John Vianney Church choir from Oahu and Sisters Marion Kikukawa and Stephen Marie Serrao from Hilo joining residents in the festivities.

"There's a little tug in my heart, wanting to be in Rome," said Kikukawa, who has been vice postulator of the Cope sainthood cause for several years.

She said nuns who work in hospitals and schools missed the beatification because "we have work to do here" -- a statement straight from Cope's life.