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Religion Briefs
Star-Bulletin staff &
Associated Press
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Mass offers prayer for public servants
Federal, state and city government officials have been invited to the annual Red Mass Thursday at Our Lady of Peace Cathedral in downtown Honolulu.
Catholic Bishop Larry Silva will speak about "legal and bloodless violence" at the 9 a.m. service. He will explore policies and institutions that can lead to violence and be abusive by leading to unemployment, lack of affordable housing and exorbitant health costs.
The Red Mass, modeled on a similar service held in Washington, D.C., is traditionally held in the week that the state Legislature opens and offers prayers to the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance for public servants.
Forum addresses church-Hawaiian ties
Speakers will discuss the involvement of Christian churches in Hawaiian community issues in a 3 p.m. program tomorrow at the Mission Memorial Auditorium next to Honolulu Hale.
The colloquium on "Apology and Reconciliation" will focus on what has been done since 1993, when the United Church of Christ offered a formal apology to Hawaiians for its support of the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani 100 years earlier. Since then the national denomination has granted more than $4.5 million to the 60 churches in the Association of Hawaiian Evangelical Churches for restoration of church buildings and to the Pu'a Foundation to support programs.
Speakers at the two-hour program will include representatives of the denomination's Hawaii conference, which is the descendant of the first Protestant missionaries to Hawaii. Representatives of Pu'a Foundation and Hawaiian groups have been invited to speak, said the Rev. Kaleo Patterson, organizer of the event.
Patterson said "there was a commitment by the church to continue to work on reconciliation, to commit itself to redress, not just the apology. There are new clergy now, a lot of people who don't know about it. And there is some disappointment in the Hawaiian community" about the scope of church involvement, he said.
The program will be followed by a 5 p.m. gathering at the Nagasaki Peace Bell, and a torch-lit procession to the Iolani Palace grounds for prayer, song and a reading of the national church's apology.
Kalihi shrine plans purification ritual
Good-luck amulets from past years will be burned in a Sagicho ceremony at 2 p.m. Jan. 21 at the Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha -- Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu shrine, 1239 Olomea St.
Sagicho, a Shinto purification ritual, dates back to the 11th century, according to the Kalihi shrine. The event is open to the public and will be followed by the monthly Tsukinami-sai service.
Monday is the deadline for people to deposit old omamori and ofuda at the shrine, which is reached from Houghtailing Street, next to Honolulu Ford.
For information, call 841-4755.
