Don't hang outside Manoa Marketplace with the Rev. Marc Alexander if you, like Garbo, vant to be left alone.

Too many people pass by, and every one of them seems to know the pastor who shepherds not one but two prominent area Catholic parishes, St. Pius X and Sacred Heart, which have seen such luminaries as Lech Walesa and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia visit for Mass.

First, there's the retiree who stops by to make a few jokes about his busy schedule. Then there's the pretty young woman who waves as she heads into the new Coffee Bean (Alexander presided at her wedding).

It's apparent that Alexander, who's served as parish priest here for nearly seven years, will be missed by his church family when he takes over his new post Feb. 1 as full-time vicar general for the new bishop.

"That part is hard," said Alexander. "They're like my extended family. When I made the first announcement ... at Masses, I started to feel my eyes (sting) a little bit."

Alexander phrases his new job to his Maryknoll gradeschoolers in the form of an SAT analogy: Vicar general is to bishop as vice principal is to principal. He'll support and assist the bishop in his ministry, all part of the grand plan of Bishop Larry Silva, who was vicar general in Oakland, Calif., before taking over Hawai'i's top post in July.

Silva tapped Alexander for his No. 2 spot for three reasons:

"We need to do a planning process for the diocese," Silva said. "There are lots of areas (for) growth. ... Pastors of parishes are responding as best they can, but can only look at (their) parishes. The diocese needs to look beyond that. I think Father Marc can do that well: He's organized and visionary. I want to put him in charge of that planning process."

Secondly, Alexander is a tech whiz: "We need to upgrade our technology in the diocese, get parishes online," Silva said.

For instance, the recent remodeling at Sacred Heart, just across the street from Punahou's new super-high-tech Case Middle School, brought that parish into the 21st century with a $250,000 tech upgrade, adding — among other things — multimedia screens, assisted listening devices and a sound system that even projects outside.

"We're really wired," said Tom Papandrew, administrator at the parishes where Alexander serves. "The diocese could use some help in that area."

And the last reason, according to Silva, that Alexander makes a good right-hand man: Alexander's been among the Islands' movers and shakers as founding executive director of the Hawai'i Catholic Conference, the public-policy arm of the diocese, initially formed to take on the same-sex marriage amendment.

If he were a legislator, you'd say Alexander made friends on both sides of the aisle, with an ecumenical set of pals, especially from the Latter-day Saints and evangelical Christian camps. But he's also been known to afflict the comfortable: When he gave his homily for the last legislative session's Red Mass, several lawmakers were squirming in the pew as he tackled the piping-hot topic of doctor-assisted suicide, in a sermon that was later printed in Origins, an online magazine.

"(His connections) are an important thing for me," said Silva, who took over the top post this year. "I'm new to Hawai'i, and it's good to know who the players are. Being close here (at the chancery), he'll be a real help to me in that."

What else recommends him?

"He's a good priest," Silva said. "He's proved to be a competent pastor and a real asset to the diocese."

Alexander endeared himself to Papandrew, who left his job at an international company, the planning, landscape architecture and civil engineering firm of Belt Collins Hawaii, to become administrator more than two years ago: "He's a very bright young man, a very high-energy person. People always used to ask me, 'How are you going to work with this guy, he's very high-energy?' It's nothing new to me. He's full of ideas and very creative."

Papandrew laughs, recalling e-mails arriving at all hours.

"I was thinking what I would (highlight) about Marc, and I guess it's his pastoral vision and his compassion for the parishioners," Papandrew said. "You could call him any time of day or night and he'd be there in a heartbeat. And I have. I've gotten calls from people at 2, 3, 4 o'clock in morning. An ambulance is taking them to the ER. Boom, he's there."

Back at Manoa Marketplace, a telling moment arises.

As the interview begins winding down, another interruption occurs. Alexander jumps up to greet an elegant but subdued older woman, who smiles at him ruefully. They step away out of earshot.

When Alexander sits back down, he pulls a white, cotton handkerchief from his pocket and removes the spectacles from his face.

"I'm sorry," he said, wiping his reddened eyes. After some prodding, he explains he'd just heard from his lifelong friend that the MRI results were not good. Her cancer had spread.

Alexander sits, quietly for a moment.

"That's the bad part of this," he said.

He'll be back in businesslike mode in a moment, but briefly, through the crack, you see for just a second: He'll miss his flock just as much as they'll miss him.