HONOLULU (OSV News) — “E hiki mai kou aupuni” — “Thy kingdom come.”

The episcopal motto of Bishop Michael Thomas Tupou Castori — taken from the Our Father recited in the Hawaiian language — anchored a liturgy rich with culture and symbolism in which the Jesuit priest was ordained and installed as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Honolulu.

The July 28 Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu was a testament to joy, faith, community and steadfastness. The threat of a tropical storm passing close to Hawaii — realized somewhat with gray skies and rain that cleared up as the Mass got underway — did little to quell the enthusiasm of those in attendance.

In the true aloha spirit of the island state, the many hundreds who saw Bishop Castori’s ordination and installation in person represented a wide range of places, cultures and traditions.

California family and adopted Tongan family

Bishop Castori’s friends and families — his biological California family and his adopted Tongan family, with whom he bonded more than three decades ago during a Christmastime visit to the island kingdom in Oceania — filled the pews.

The congregation also included representatives from other faiths; members of Hawaiian royal societies, who can trace their lineages back to the Hawaiian Kingdom, and various fraternal organizations; scores of priests, deacons and deacons’ wives; women and men religious representing their congregations; and laypeople representing their parishes and other organizations.

Outdoor seating accommodated many more faithful who were eager to witness the once-in-a-generation event.

Michelle Tuzon, a parishioner at Mystical Rose Chapel on the Chaminade University of Honolulu campus and a former teacher at Sacred Hearts Academy in Kaimuki, said she attended now-retired Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva’s ordination and installation 21 years ago, and she wanted to be part of the diocese’s history despite the weather and outdoor seating.

‘Very thoughtful in everything he does’

“It is important that (Bishop Castori) worked in Tonga,” she told the Hawaii Catholic Herald, Honolulu’s diocesan news outlet. “The phrase on his shield is in Hawaiian. This bishop is very thoughtful in everything he does.”

In his remarks at the conclusion of the Mass, Bishop Castori expressed gratitude for these groups and all in the Diocese of Honolulu, noting that their work and contributions to society help to “build the kingdom of God in our midst.”

“Isn’t it wonderful that whatever our ancestry, whatever our place of origin, our first language, by virtue of our dwelling in these majestic islands our whole way of life becomes imbued with aloha, with blessings (returning) to our families and the communities which we come from,” he said — “even as our divinely created diversity enriches the life of our diocese.”

Bishop Castori said that Hawaii’s history as a former monarchy evoked a moving connection to his days in the Jesuit novitiate in New York four decades ago, when he “found (his) heart inflamed” by a meditation during a 30-day retreat that asked participants to reflect on just such a scenario — of living under the rule of a powerful yet noble earthly king — then consider how much more ardently they would respond to the call of Christ the king.

‘An instinctive reverence for majesty’

“And so now, 40 years after being captivated by the stirring images of that meditation, I find myself in awe that God has looked upon me and my unworthiness and called me to shepherd the only diocese in these 50 states that comprises a land that engendered kingship and nobility and consequently is graced with people with an instinctive reverence for majesty,” he said.

“For certainly, it is no mere coincidence that a people so interiorly disposed to receive the call of Christ the king, the same people should be animated by the luminous cultural values of aloha, which is, at its heart, selfless love,” Bishop Castori said.

Indeed, the co-cathedral overflowed with aloha during the late morning liturgy, which comprised traditions that crossed distance and time.

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, the principal celebrant, along with other bishops, archbishops and cardinals in attendance performed the ancient rites that forever linked themselves and now Bishop Castori to the line originating with Peter.

Hand-woven Tongan mat, Hawaiian kapa cloth

In a moving recognition of Bishop Castori’s close ties to Tonga and the Pacific, during the litany of supplication — when the bishop-elect lies prostrate before the principal celebrant — Bishop Castori lay on a hand-woven fine Tongan mat layered with Hawaiian kapa cloth.

Meanwhile, the main choir provided music that incorporated Hawaiian instruments and styling.

A special Tongan choir filled the nave with powerful reflection songs during Communion.

Members of groups within the diocese presented gifts to Bishop Castori immediately after he was installed as bishop; they included ethnicities and cultures ranging from the Philippines to Vietnam to Portugal.

Bishop Michael C. Barber of Oakland, California, was one of the liturgy’s co-consecrators, with Bishop Silva as the other co-consecrator, and he gave the homily. He praised his fellow Jesuit for rising to the occasion, both now and throughout his priestly vocation.

Concluding homily with Poignant Bible passage

Bishop Barber concluded his homily with a poignant Bible passage suggested to him during a recent Society of Jesus meeting in Rome.

“Isaiah 42 says this: ‘The islands put their trust in you.'” Bishop Barber said. “Father Castori, after you are anointed today, the islands put their trust in you — not because you’re Michael, or you have degrees, but because you are anointed and you represent Jesus Christ.

“The islands put their trust in you. So has the Holy Father, so do all of us, because the spirit of the Lord is upon you.”

Celia K. Downes is editor/director of the Hawaii Catholic Herald, news outlet of the Diocese of Honolulu. Herald reporter Lisa Dahm contributed to this story. This story was originally published by the Hawaii Catholic Herald and distributed through a partnership with OSV News.