The first Roman Catholic priests to arrive in 1827 on a mission to the Sandwich Isles were from the Sacred Hearts religious order, so Hawai'i's now-largest faith group has a long history of visiting priests.

However, for the first time since the Diocese of Honolulu was founded in 1941, the number of visiting priests from the Philippines — both externs (those on loan from other dioceses) and those in religious orders — now outnumber their diocesan counterparts.

Some counted as active diocesan priests have cut ties with a diocese in the Philippines to join the Diocese of Honolulu, bringing the numbers contributed from the Philippines even higher.

As of July 1, the hiring of six new Filipino externs brings the projected total to about 35, with 23 Filipino externs as well as about a dozen priests from religious orders.

The Rev. Khanh Hoang, vicar of clergy, calls it a win-win situation, "especially in Hawai'i's diverse culture." He added that the priests here seem to get along well.

Though there are no statistics on how many of Hawai'i's Catholics overall are of Filipino descent, in some parishes, especially the growing parishes of the 'Ewa plain, it's estimated that about 75 percent are Filipino.

The Filipino ministry is the largest one in the diocese, making the fit smooth.

On the other end of the equation, there's a crisis in vocations throughout the United States. Fewer men are joining the priesthood, so fewer U.S. priests are coming in to serve at local dioceses.

It's a phenomenon experienced throughout the Mainland as well.

Reno, Nev., for example, "has always been dependent on religious (orders priests) and externs," reports Brother Matthew Cunningham, Diocese of Reno chancellor.

Their number is "probably close to 50-50," with 20 diocesan, 11 externs and seven religious orders priests of all different backgrounds.

They have priests from Mainland dioceses as well as from around the country, such as India, Africa, Poland and Ireland.

"Most of us do need externs to meet the needs," Cunningham added.

News of Honolulu's milestone made it across the Pacific, where it surprised the Rev. Wilfredo Manrique, vicar of clergy in San Jose, Calif.

San Jose has about 22 Filipino priests out of about 130 — almost 18 percent, Manrique noted. Add in priests of Vietnamese and Hispanic descent, and the proportion grows. The total number of international priests is approximately 40 percent.

The neighboring Archdiocese of San Francisco has about 48 Filipino priests, but with more clergy than San Jose, "the numbers are greater, but percentage-wise, it's still not a majority."

Nevertheless, most of the priests that dioceses are ordaining are migrants from other countries, Manrique said. They are also drawing externs into the fold through a process called incardination.

"That's the reality now, in the West," he said.

Bishops in the Philippines are very careful about making sure the priests they loan to other dioceses are a good fit, Manrique said: "(They'll) send somebody who's a seasoned priest, so they are not embarrassed by his performance. They want to continue sending priests. Otherwise, if they send somebody who's going to bomb, it doesn't speak well for their diocese."

Hoang said the Diocese of Honolulu waits about three to five years before considering incardination of its externs.

Manrique said the San Jose diocese also puts its extern priests through an orientation program, which costs about $13,000 per priest — and in some cases, sends them to classes to help them master Western pronunciation, reducing the impact of their accents.

"Much of ministry of priests is public speaking," he said.

He had high praise for the international priest orientation program, open to those in his district, which includes the Diocese of Honolulu.

"If you're new to the diocese from another culture, you ought to go to that program," he added. "It really makes a difference."

Hoang himself knows there's a culture shock for incoming priests, but found his biggest problem was learning business and administrative skills.

"The reality is, church is business," Hoang said. "You're dealing with hiring, firing. You don't get training in seminary in reading the budget."

Hoang recalled how during his first assignment, "my pastor gave me a million-dollar budget and said 'Hey, you do it!' "

Asked if the Honolulu diocese had $13,000 per priest handy for formal training of priests like in California, Hoang laughed.

"We have a hard time to try to support our seminarians," he said.

However, he added, he is working on ways to improve in-house training.