Clergy

I am the first born of  six children of Joseph Kobla Apetorgbor and Ama Kuma Asuo. I had my priestly training at St. Victor’s Major Seminary, Tamale, Ghana and was ordained in the Diocese of Damongo, Ghana. After my ordination on July 22, 1995, I did further studies at the Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany while simultaneously serving in various ministries throughout Germany. 

Since my ordination, I have served as a pastor, parochial vicar, diocesan youth chaplain and vocation director, lecturer and formator at a major seminary, rector of a Minor Seminary Senior High School and administrator of a diocese. All these, I served throughout in Ghana.

After completing a wonderful sabbatical program at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas in 2011, I proceeded to Hawaii in December 2011. After a few days at Our Lady of Good Counsel, Pearl City, I served one and a half years at St. Jude Parish, Kapolei.

I am happy to be back in Hawaii and I am equally happy for the opportunity to serve the wonderful parishioners of St. Catherine’s Parish. I feel very welcome here and I am very grateful for the warm reception. May the Lord continue to bless us with unity and love!

I was born in Eugene, Oregon to Steve and Laurie Rinaldi and baptized at St. Jude’s Catholic Church. When I was seven years old, we moved to Maui, where I was brought up surrounded by my Catholic faith. I am a product of Catholic education, attending grade school at St. Joseph Elementary under the Dominican Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary and then St. Anthony High School under the Marianists.

I first heard the call to the priesthood when I was twelve years old. As I went through high school, the calling grew stronger and stronger until I decided to enter the seminary. After graduating high school in 2011, I entered Mount Angel College Seminary, where I would receive the foundations of my spiritual life in the Benedictine tradition. After graduating in 2015, I attended St. Patrick’s Seminary, where I studied theology. I was ordained a priest on May 20th, 2022 and was assigned here to St. Catherine’s.

While I am still new to the priesthood, I am not unfamiliar with our parish here in Kapa’a. Back in 2017, I was assigned here as a seminarian for a year to learn about parish life during my Pastoral Internship. St. Catherine’s, then, is very much the place where I learned how the life of the priesthood is truly lived. I promised I would come back to say Mass as a priest and have been able to fulfill that promise more than I thought possible. It is good to call St. Catherine of Alexandria my home once again.

My name is Alejandrino Andy Ragasa, Jr. I was ordained a permanent deacon for the Diocese of Honolulu on February 19, 2021.  Upon my ordination, the Honorable Bishop Larry Silva assigned me to diaconal service at St. Catherine of Alexandria.

I was born in the rural plantation town of North Kohala on the Island of Hawaii on February 22, 1961. I attended and graduated from Kohala High School (Go Cowboys!) in 1979.  Upon graduation, I enrolled in the University of Hawaii at Manoa and was accepted to the College of Engineering.  I earned my BS degree in Civil Engineering from UH-Manoa in 1984.  My first engineering job was with M&E Pacific, Inc. in Honolulu from 1984 to 1989 as a design engineer.  In 1989, I passed the board exam and became a Licensed Professional Civil Engineer in the State of Hawaii.  I switched jobs and went to work for Koga Engineering & Construction, Inc. where I worked my way up from Project Engineer to Project Manager to Island Manager to Vice President of Kauai Operations.  I moved from Oahu to manage our Kauai operations at the start of 1996 and recently retired at the end of 2020 after 31+ years at Koga Engineering.

I got married to the love of my life, Inocenta Acosta Ragasa, on June 22, 2013 at Immaculate Conception Church in Lihue. We live in Lihue and together we have two sons and two daughters from our previous marriages – Christiaan, Carlos , Kelcie, and Dayna.  We have also been blessed with a granddaughter, Camille (Kelcie’s), born in September 2019.

In my spare time, I like to golf, garden, and travel…not necessarily in that order.  I also love to spend time with our granddaughter along with our pet dogs (Simba and Hokulani) and cats (Popoki and Eleele). I was ordained a deacon to serve and that is exactly what I intend to do, not only for the faith community at St. Catherine of Alexandria but for the entire Island of Kauai and the Diocese of Honolulu.  “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”  (Joshua 24:15)

Retired