"Kailua’s Catholic “faith community” dates back to the mid-1920s when priests from St. Ann’s in Kaneohe offered Sunday Mass on an outreach basis in the neighborhood. Then the Campos family, operators of a long-time dairy in Kailua, donated five acres of land for a church.
Construction began in late 1932 with donated materials and labor from parishioners-to-be. Dedication of the original small, wood-framed church occurred on January 22, 1933. St. Anthony of Padua was selected as its patron. Two years later a little rectory was added.
During World War II, an Army Engineer Company was bivouacked in the woods behind the church. In 1944 when the company was engaged in the Battle of Saipan, 25 of the men were killed and 50 were injured. The survivors decided to establish a lasting memorial to their fallen comrades and collected a thousand dollars which they sent to our church for that purpose. The pastor accepted the undertaking and his parishioners matched the amount provided. Located in the garden of our “Lanikai wing,” it is considered one of the earliest World War II memorials dedicated in the United States.
After the war, the church was expanded to accommodate 300 people. Today, the original wood-framed church serves as our school kindergarten, next to the present-day church. Explosive population growth in the 1950s led to the building of an entirely new structure, now our parish hall, as well as a school that started out with three grades and grew to its present size. In 1952, St. Anthony's became the first private school to open in Kailua. Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet served as the teachers. Additional land was purchased for a convent to accommodate the Sisters who staffed the school for decades. Today this two-story building houses the Early Learning Center on the first floor and the parish office on the second floor.
Parishioner Jack McAuliffe was called upon in 1966 as the architect to design a third church after additional property was acquired. McAuliffe's complex design was engineered and constructed by Carl Schuler. Our present house of worship was dedicated in 1968.
On July 24, 1982, in the early morning hours, a fire destroyed the interior of the church. Only the exterior wall and roof with supporting columns remained. The church bell, cast in Paris in 1866, was saved; but, the crucifix that hung above the altar, hand-carved by artist Fritz Aplinalp, was severely burned almost beyond recognition. This cross still stands today in our church.
In undertaking the renovation that followed – the parish hall once more serving as church – reconstruction adapted liturgical concepts, growing out of Vatican II. A Day Chapel, Eucharistic Chapel, and a reconciliation room were added. The church received a new altar, ambo, and tabernacle. The crucifix was preserved from disintegration and restored, thanks to the technical counsel provided by parishioners from Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Enchanted Lakes. The crucifix was then hung above the baptismal font. The baptismal font for total immersion rites was awarded the top prize for font design by a national Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions. The first Mass in the restored and redesigned church was offered on Saturday, March 24, 1984.
On March 21, 2019, the crucifix was relocated from above the baptismal font to the sanctuary where it now hangs behind the altar." (
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