The Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu is rolling out its strategic plan for the next five years. It includes recommendations tied to training for leaders — both lay and clergy — and proposed new programs.

The plan calls for hiring directors for new youth and young adult ministries, and possibly creating a position that would focus on homeless issues.

Tom Papandrew, director of planning for the diocese, said surveys of 66 parishes and more than two dozen missions in the state consistently listed the same thing at the top their wish lists: "We need to help parishes develop their leaders, develop their skills. In the business model, that would be training."

In addition to priests, for example, parish council and finance council members would likely undergo leadership training.

"My vision for the future is that every parish will have a Gospel-inspired, enthusiastic, and skilled pastor," Bishop Larry Silva wrote in an introduction to the report. "Every parish community will have trained pastoral and administrative support."

The next priority, Papandrew said, is a direct answer to parishioners who asked, in initial talks, "What happened to CYO?" — the now-defunct Catholic Youth Organization. "We need separate youth and young adult ministries, including possibly adding two departments," he said. "Ideally, you'd have two different heads of these programs.

Also proposed: religious education for all ages at parish level, from "womb to tomb"; and hiring a staffer to work closely with the offices of Social Services and Catholic Charities to focus on homeless issues, Papandrew said.

The diocese next will focus on the individual parish needs, he said: "I'd say every parish has issues that relates to facilities."

That includes seeking land in West Hawai'i and several areas of Maui. Right now, there are no Catholic schools on the Big Island except in Hilo.

Parishes there are asking for a Catholic school, he said.

While land has been acquired for a new parish in Leeward O'ahu, the diocese has yet to realize a plan of opening a Catholic high school there.

"We have to acquire an appropriate piece of land," Papandrew said. "Ideally, it should be 50 acres, but we could get away with less than that, a minimum 30, ideally 50."