Pioneer Bishops of Hawaii

This blog will discuss bishops that served in Hawaii up to 1900.  For more information about Hawaii, see my blog of May 4, 2018.

The first known European to come to Hawaii was the English explorer, James Cook, in 1778—he named Hawaii the Sandwich Islands.  Protestant missionaries from New England came starting in 1820 and were successful in converting many Hawaiians to Christianity.  Hawaii was led by kings until a republic was formed in 1894.  Hawaii was annexed by the United States in 1898 and became a territory in 1900.  Hawaii became the 50th State in 1959.

Pope Leo XII created the Prefecture Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands in 1825.  [A prefecture apostolic is a missionary jurisdiction.]  Two years later, Father Alexis Bachelot (1796-1837), accompanied by two other members of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, arrived as the first Prefect Apostolic.  Bachelot was born in France and ordained in 1820.  He died of an illness while at sea. 

The priests made converts among the Hawaiians, which upset the Protestant missionaries.  Catholic converts were persecuted, and the priests eventually had to leave Hawaii.  Bachelot returned in 1837 but was again forced to leave as Catholicism was outlawed in Hawaii in that year.  Two years later, a French warship arrived in Honolulu, and Captain Cyril Laplace demanded that King Kamehameha III allow freedom of religion or face the threat of war.  The King relented and soon more priests from the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary arrived in Hawaii.

While Hawaii was a Prefecture Apostolic, it was under the jurisdiction of Bishop Stephen Rouchouze (1798-1843), also a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.  Rouchouze was born in France and ordained Vicar Apostolic of Eastern Oceania in 1833.  He moved to Honolulu in 1840 and later that year baptized almost 200 native Hawaiians and ordained Bernabe Castan to the priesthood, the first ordination in Hawaii.  He left for Europe in 1841 to gather supplies and recruit missionaries, but died when his ship sank on the return trip in 1843.   

In 1846, Father Louis Maigret, also from the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts, became the first Vicar Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands—the name was later changed to Hawaii.  [A vicariate apostolic is a missionary diocese.]  The Diocese of Honolulu was created in 1941.  Hawaii had more than 20 parishes in 1900 and by 1941 that number had more than doubled. 

Louis D. Maigret was born in France in 1804 and was ordained a priest for the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in 1828.  The Congregation sent him to the Kingdom of Hawaii to minister to the Catholic community there.  He was sent to Micronesia in 1837 but left after seven unsuccessful months.  He was then appointed Apostolic Prefect of the Sandwich Islands and in 1846, Maigret was appointed the first Vicar Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands.  Bishop Maigret built the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, established schools, and invited the Sacred Hearts Sisters to the Islands.  Maigret also printed missals and hymnals in Hawaiian.  He ordained Damien De Veuster (now a canonized saint) and sent him to Molokai to minister to the victims of Hansen’s disease (leprosy)—a ministry the Father Damien would continue until his death.  Maigret also attended the First Vatican Council in 1869.  Bishop Maigret died in 1882.

B. Herman Koeckemann was born in Germany in 1828 and became a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in 1851.  The Congregation sent him to Hawaii in 1854 to serve as a missionary and he was ordained a priest in 1862.  Koeckemann was named coadjutor vicar apostolic of the Sandwich Islands in 1881 and became Vicar Apostolic in 1882 upon the death of Bishop Maigret.

Many Portuguese immigrants, mostly Catholic, came to Hawaii during Koeckemann’s time as bishop, to work in the sugar plantations.  Bishop Koeckemann built many schools to serve the new immigrants as well as other Catholics and brought in religious orders such as the Brothers of the Society of Mary to staff the schools.  Koeckemann also invited Mother Marianne Cope (now a canonized saint) and the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse to work with Hansen’s disease patients.  Bishop Koeckemann died in 1892 after suddenly becoming paralyzed.

Gulstan Ropert was born in France in 1839 and joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary at age 20.  He was ordained a priest for the Congregation in 1866 and was sent to Hawaii in 1868.  He served at churches on the Island of Hawaii until 1892 when he was appointed Vicar Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands.

Three great events happened during the time that Bishop Ropert served as Vicar Apostolic:  the Kingdom was overthrown, Hawaii became part of the United States, and the Spanish American War was waged.  His patient temperament was well suited for the times.  These events brought Catholics to Hawaii from the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam—many to work at the sugar plantations.  Ropert established new schools to educate the immigrants’ children.  Ropert established three organizations for young men to offset the Vatican’s condemnation of other organizations, such as the Odd Fellows.  Bishop Ropert died from stomach cancer in 1903.