Audrey McAvoy

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Longview of people walking down beach with mountain in background

In Hawaii, Maui council opposes US Space Force plan to build new telescopes on Haleakala volcano

The Maui County Council voted 9-0 to pass a resolution opposing the project. The measure said Haleakala's summit was a sacred place used for religious ceremony, prayer and connecting to ancestors.

Kealoha Pisciotta, a cultural practitioner and longtime activist, sits on lava rock part of the way up Mauna Kea while giving an interview on the Big Island of Hawaii, on Saturday, July 15, 2023. Over the last 50 years, astronomers have mounted 13 giant astronomical observatories on Mauna Kea's summit. In 2019, Native Hawaiians including Piscioitta staged a year-long protest over construction of an additional telescope. (AP/Jessie Wardarski)

A volcano in Hawaii is sacred to spiritual practitioners and treasured by astronomers

Mauna Kea is a dormant 14,000-foot shield volcano. In Native Hawaiian lore, it is the first-born son of the sky father and earth mother. The mountain's dry atmosphere and limited light pollution make for a perfect location to study the skies — one of just a handful on the planet.

Most Rev. Clarence "Larry" Silva, the Bishop of Honolulu, greets parishioners after Mass at Sacred Hearts Mission Church in Kapalua, Hawaii, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023.

As Maui rescue continues, families and faith leaders cling to hope, tackle reality

At a Sunday Mass at a church in Kapalua, Hawaii, the Most Rev. Clarence "Larry" Silva, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Honolulu, appealed to somber parishioners not to abandon their faith. "If we are angry with God we should tell him so. He can take it," he said in his sermon, adding later that "God loves us in tragedies and good times and bad times."

 

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