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Knights of Peter Claver Launch First Hawai‘i Unit

September 22, 2025

(Photo courtesy of Dann Ebina)

From the Office for Social Ministry

“Whenever we encounter a poor person, we cannot look away, for that would prevent us from encountering the face of the Lord Jesus. In the poor, we can touch the flesh of Christ.”--Pope Francis, Message for the First World Day of the Poor, 2017

As the Church enthusiastically celebrates the final months of the Jubilee Year of Hope, we are called to always remember that mercy and hope walk hand in hand. Mercy opens our eyes to Christ in those who suffer. Hope strengthens our resilience to build a future of justice and compassion. Pope Francis emphasized this when he established the First World Day of the Poor in 2017 during his “Misericordia et Misera” message at the end of 2016 Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. Now his successor Pope Leo XIV, has carried that vision forward in his 2025 Message for the Ninth World Day of the Poor, reminding all: “The poor are creative subjects who challenge us to find novel ways of living out the Gospel today. Christian hope must move beyond comforting words to real responsibility and structural change to uplift the poor.”

That vision and mission of service with those in need was embodied anew in Honolulu this September. For the first time in history, the Knights and Ladies Auxiliary of Peter Claver—the largest Black Catholic lay organization in the United States—opened a unit outside the continental U.S. On September 12, 2025, at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa, Unit 419 of the Knights and Ladies Auxiliary of Peter Claver was officially established here and they named their first unit in Hawaii after St. Damien de Veuster and St. Marianne Cope of Moloka‘i.

This Unit 419 of Knights and Ladies of Peter Claver reflects the diversity of the Catholic Church by including men and women, priests and deacons, married couples and lay leaders, young and older, representing American Catholics of African, Filipino, Chinese, Polynesian, and European heritage. They embody what Pope Francis’s had called “a Church of open doors, where all who are willing to serve are welcome.” Their diversity is more than symbolic—it reveals the global heart of Catholicism that call us to serve across and through integrating cultures.

Just a day after they were officially installed, the new Knights and Ladies of Unit 419 joined the St. Theresa parish food pantry in providing more than 200 senior food boxes to kūpuna, many of whom arrived on foot or by bus from the working-class neighborhood of Kalihi. From 7 to 9 a.m., the Knights and Ladies stood shoulder to shoulder with parish volunteers, distributing bags of rice, canned goods, and other non-perishable goods from the Food Bank to vulnerable yet resilient local elders. Unit 419 began their mission by recognizing Christ in the hungry kūpuna who line up at the parish food pantry, and in all those who serve with them side by side.

Later that evening, the joy of shared service turned into the joy of shared worship. Dozens of Knights and Ladies of Peter Claver from the mainland USA joined their new brothers and sisters in Hawai‘i at the Co-Cathedral Saturday evening parish Mass, where the newly elected officers of Unit 419 were blessed by the community. It was an inspiring sign of solidarity—linking Hawai‘i’s Catholics with the Knights and Ladies of Peter Claver from across the nation, united in the mission of compassionate mercy and justice. It was very fitting that the first acts of the Saints Damien and Marianne Unit 419 were living out their faith together in both prayer and action.

The Knights and Ladies Auxiliary of Peter Claver (KPC) were founded in 1909 providing Black Catholics a place of belonging when segregation kept them out of other such U.S. religious organizations. For more than a century, KPC have carried out their mission of compassionate service, education and justice, following the example of their patron saint, Peter Claver, who worked tirelessly with slaves on boats in the harbors of South America.  Now by planting their seeds and roots in Hawai‘i, this Catholic organization is showing that their Gospel mission is also alive and growing in Kalihi. For more about the Knights and Ladies Auxiliary of Peter Claver, please visit their website www.kpc.org  And let us all follow the footsteps of our inspiring saints by responding to this Jubilee Year’s call to pray and serve with mercy and hope together. Mahalo.