Molokai History:
(from “Pioneers of the Faith: History of the Catholic Mission in Hawaii (1827-1940)” by Robert Schoofs, SS.CC., Sturgis Printing Company, Inc., Honolulu, HI, 1978)
(continued from May 19th)
For another decade and a half, from 1914 to 1929, Father Thomas Geloen, ss.cc. covered his large district, now counting five sacred buildings. During these years he saw a radical change in the image of Molokai. Farm lots had been doled out to the Hawaiians, and the pineapple industry had been introduced. The automobile also had invaded the island, and the pace of things was growing too fast for aging and ailing Father Thomas. The time had come, he felt, for him to turn over his immense missionary district with its accumulations of problems to younger and more daring hands. His understanding superiors in Honolulu relieved him of his heavy burden, and assigned him to St. Anthony’s, Wailuku, Maui, for whatever help he still could give the priests of this large and busy parish. Nearby Malulani Hospital was the scene of his charitable ministrations, and once a month a devout parishioner took him to Kahakuloa and to Kihei. On Maui as on Molokai, Father Thomas left behind him the image of a real man of God doing his chores and errands of mercy without fanfare.
Father Thomas H. Geloen, ss.cc. was born on May 12, 1868, at Reninghels, Belgium. After being ordained at Brussels in 1895, he arrived in Honolulu in July, 1897.
(to be continued tomorrow)
Blessing, pono and much pule to all!
Fr. Brian Guerrini, ss.cc.
Priest
Molokai