Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 4, 1 April 1998 — FIRST PRIEST [ARTICLE]

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FIRST PRIEST

Monsignor Kekumano was not the first priest of Hawaiian descent. He was ordained in 1949, whereas Father Ralph Silva (deceased) was ordained in 1944, or five years earlier. I knew these line men very well. In fact, Charles Kekumano was in grammar school at St. Louis when I graduated in 1933. One of my classmates was the first loeal Japanese ordained and another was the first loeal priest of Puerto Rican ancestry. I feel fortunate having grown up in the environment that produced these great people. Leon Thevenin Kamuela

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Ka Leo Kaiaulu