![]() “A large number of people speak Hawaiian,” he said. The religious education director is fluent in Hawaiian and is working on translating the lessons, Father Kim said. The Scripture readings are delivered in both Hawaiian and English using available translations, both Protestant and Catholic. Most of the main Mass prayers and hymns are in Hawaiian. On the first weekend of the month, Masses are bilingual - in Hawaiian and English. The parish also hosts hula classes, Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, Bible study and psychiatric counseling sponsored by Catholic Charities Hawaii. “Lots of the parishioners know the homeless personally,” said Father Kim. ![]() ![]() It is a vital ministry which includes volunteers from other neighborhood churches and groups. On the last Thursday of the month, a potluck dinner serves as many as 200 complete hot dinners to the homeless, many of whom live on the beaches across the street. The architect’s drawing of the planned parish structures: left, the parish office building center, the cruciform church right, the multipurpose building The parish food pantry, open Monday, Wednesday and Friday, serves about 130 families a week with food donated by parishioners or bought by the parish. ![]() Rita will need the extra space.ĭespite its lowly facilities, the church, Nanakuli’s largest with 300 registered families, buzzes as a community hub.īetween 350 and 400 attend the four weekend Masses. The new church will hold 450 people, more than double the capacity of the present church. The footprint of the present church will be the church’s “crossbeam” and its familiar façade will be the end of the cross’ left arm. The rest of the church will be torn down and rebuilt much bigger, reoriented in the shape of a cross. Its twin bell towers, one on each side of the church is unique among island churches. The church’s boxy front, a familiar Nanakuli image, will be the only part of all the existing structures that will be saved. The building, which will replace the Quonset hut and portable trailers, will hold six classrooms, a food pantry and a warming kitchen. Phase three is next - an 80-foot by 80-foot multipurpose building, the walls of which will open up to seat a maximum of 450. In phase two, the parish moved its pastor, who is 65, from his rat-infested rectory to a new house down the road in the Sea Country neighborhood. Phase one, the parking lot, was completed in 2002 following 20 years of planning and permitting. Rita’s present building plans have extended over decades. Both churches now serve their greater neighborhood communities. The other is Malia Puka O Kalani in Keaukaha on the Big Island. Rita is one of two Catholic churches built on Hawaiian Homelands, originally to serve native Hawaiians. Rita as a mission of Sacred Heart Parish in 1942 and elevated it to parish status in 1965. In 1955, the church was expanded and twin bell towers added.īishop James J. When the Ewa parish built its own church in 1930, the building was moved a second time in 1934 to its present Nanakuli homestead site. The structure was first moved to Ewa to be used as Immaculate Conception Church. Rita church building began as a chapel at Schofield Barracks in central Oahu. Rita of Cascia, Nanaikapono Protestant Church and a Mormon church. The results were a Catholic church in honor of St. The rural community, however, would have to wait a few more years before it got its own church.Īccording to Father Kim, when the Nanakuli Hawaiian Homestead opened lots in 1931, homesteaders petitioned the Hawaiian Homes Commission for properties for churches. It’s third-hand.įather Kim told the Hawaii Catholic Herald June 19 that he believes Mass was celebrated that year in Nanakuli, thus establishing it as a mission outpost 90 years ago. There’s a World War II-era Quonset hut that houses the parish food pantry four used portable trailers parked to “temporarily” replace a parish hall, itself a former army barracks, that burned down 30 years ago an abandoned former rectory, warped and leaning, contaminated with black mold, asbestos and rats. The buildings in their shade, not so much.Ī stroll through the church grounds reveals a weathered assortment of hand-me-down facilities. The trees beautifying the parish property, including two mango and a landmark banyan, stand sturdy and strong. The hand-me-down church on Hawaiian Homestead land celebrates its 90th anniversaryĪ gust of wind produces a swirl of pink tissue-thin blossoms from one of the trees fronting St. Rita Parish, Nanakuli, stands in front of his church June 19 with Sebastian Lopez, coordinator of the parish’s upcoming 90th anniversary celebration.
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