May 6, 2026 — Today, Pope Leo XIV appointed Fr. Michael Castori, SJ, as the next bishop of Honolulu. He will succeed Bishop Larry Silva, who has served since 2005. Fr. Castori, of the USA West Province, currently serves as rector of the Arrupe Jesuit Residence at Seattle University.
Fr. Castori received a bachelor’s degree in classics from Harvard University in 1982 and served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Baltimore before entering the Society of Jesus in 1987.
As a Jesuit, he received a master’s degree in philosophical resources; a Master of Divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley; a Ph.D. in Near Eastern religions from the University of California, Berkeley; and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from Fordham University.
Fr. Castori was ordained to the priesthood on June 13, 1998. He has served in campus ministry and as a theology professor at Santa Clara University; as a chaplain at San Quentin State Prison in California; as associate pastor at All Saints Catholic Church in Hayward, California; and as the vicar for clergy for the Diocese of Oakland. He was also chaplain to the Tongan Catholic communities in Northern California from 1996 to 2024 and served as a member of the presbyteral council of the Diocese of Oakland from 2015 to 2024 and as a member of the diocese’s priest personnel board from 2019 to 2024.
