Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu
Encyclopedia
The Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, officially in Latin
Dioecesis Honoluluensis, is an ecclesiastical territory or particular church
of the Catholic Church
in the United States
. The diocese
comprises the entire state
of Hawaii
and the unincorporated Hawaiian Islands
.
The diocese is suffragan to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Francisco and a part of the ecclesiastical province that includes the San Francisco archdiocese
and the suffragan dioceses of Las Vegas
, Oakland
, Reno
, Sacramento
, Salt Lake City
, San Jose
, Santa Rosa
and Stockton
. The patrons
of the Diocese of Honolulu are the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Malia O Ka Malu
or Our Lady Queen of Peace
, Saint Damien of Molokai
, and Blessed Marianne of Molokai
.
The diocese is governed by the Bishop of Honolulu
. His canonical seat or cathedra
is located at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace
. With his clergy, the bishop ministers to a culturally diverse population in the following languages: Hawaiian
; English
; Ilokano
; Tagalog
; Samoan
; Tongan
; Japanese
; Korean
; Spanish
; and Vietnamese
. It is one of the most diverse and one of the largest dioceses in the United States, in terms of territorial area which spans statewide and includes unpopulated Hawaiian Islands.
Pope Gregory XVI
had divided Oceania
into two vicariates apostolic. The evangelization of the Vicariate Apostolic of Oriental Oceania
(consisting of the prefectures apostolic of Tahiti
, the Marquesas, and the Sandwich Islands) was entrusted to the Picpus Fathers
, then recently established by Pierre Coudrin. The Vicariate Apostolic of Occidental Oceania was likewise entrusted to the Society of Mary, Marianists and Marists, founded in 1836 at Lyon by Jean-Claude-Marie Colin.
Shortly after the disappearance at sea of the Vicar Apostolic of Oriental Oceania, Msgr. Rouchouze and a company of missionaries on the Marie Joseph in 1843, the Vatican
canonically erected from its territories the Vicariate Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands. Similar vicariates apostolic were created for Tahiti and the Marquesas. Blessed Pius IX
changed its name in 1848 to the Vicariate Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands. Venerable Pope Pius XII
elevated the vicariate apostolic
to the dignity of a diocese on January 25, 1941, as it remains today.
The first Catholic mission to the Kingdom of Hawaii
was established by the creation of the Prefecture Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands
by Pope Leo XII
and the appointment of Alexis Bachelot
as its first and only prefect, a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
, a religious order
called the Picpus Fathers, founded by Pierre Coudrin
during the French Revolution
. The first Picpus Fathers departed from Bordeaux
aboard the La Comète on November 21, 1826 and stopped in Valparaíso
in Chile
on February 8, 1827. The Picpus Fathers resumed their trip on February 25. They entered port at Honolulu Harbor
on July 7. Having originally been refused entry by Protestant advisors to the king, the Picpus Fathers did not disembark from their ship until July 9, the Feast of Our Lady of Peace
. Among the first Picpus Fathers were Abraham Armand
and Alexis Bachelot
of France
, as well as Patrick Short
of the United Kingdom
. They were joined by six lay brothers. It has been claimed that Fathers Armand, Bachelot and Short concelebrated the first Mass
in the Hawaiian Islands on Bastille Day
, July 14, 1827, in honor of their religious order's French heritage, but this is untrue, and an anachronism: concelebration of masses was not practiced at the time, and since France was being ruled by the restored Bourbon monarchy, "Bastille Day" would certainly not be marked as a national holiday. They performed the first baptism on November 30.
The Picpus Fathers were quick to plunge into the Hawaiian society. They learned the local language, went into the Native Hawaiian
community and began preaching to them. They distributed Hawaiian language
Bible
s and taught the lessons of Jesus
from the gospel
s. Hundreds of Native Hawaiians chose to receive the sacrament
s of baptism
, confirmation and Eucharist
. Among the first converts were William Pitt Kalanimoku
who was baptized aboard the French vessel L'Uranie by Abbe de Quelen which arrived in 1819, four months after the death of Kamehameha the Great. Also the royal governors of Oahu
, Boki
and Liliha. They would both become pivotal members of the Catholic underground.
missionaries
were influential in shaping the modern society of the kingdom after the deaths of Kamehameha I
and Kamehameha II
. The missionaries, largely Congregationalists
from New England
, baptized the queen regent Kaahumanu and persuaded her to create religious policy favoring the suppression of the Catholic Church in Hawaii. Kamehameha III
agreed and enacted its expulsion from the kingdom. Fathers Bachelot and Short were forcibly boarded onto the brig Waverly by the chiefs loyal to Kaahumanu and they left Honolulu Harbor on December 24, 1831. They landed off the coast of California and worked in the California Missions
near the present-day City of Los Angeles
.
Native Hawaiian converts of the Catholic Church claimed to have been imprisoned, beaten and tortured after the physical expulsion of their missionary priests. The persecution was prescribed, according to the Bishop Museum
, by the Protestant ministers claiming that such treatment was ordained by God
. Commodore John Downes
of the United States Navy
frigate
USS Potomac
expressed American disappointment of the king's decision resulting in the brief end of physical harm for the converts.
In 1835, both the vicar apostolic (Rouchouze) and prefect apostolic (Bachelot) working from Valparaíso dispatched Columba Murphy
, a religious brother from Ireland
affiliated with the Picpus Fathers, to evaluate the situation in the Hawaiian Islands. While other Picpus Fathers were denied entry into the kingdom, the king permitted Murphy to disembark from his ship due to his investigative role and the fact that Murphy, a mere brother, could not minister the sacraments. On September 30, 1836, Arsenius Walsh
, a Picpus Father, arrived in Honolulu to continue Murphy's work. Murphy had left earlier to report back to his superiors. The royal government refused Walsh's entry. However, the captain of the French Navy
ship
La Bonite persuaded the king to allow Walsh to stay. The royal government agreed to permit the Picpus Fathers to work freely in the Hawaiian Islands as long as they only attended to foreign Catholics, not Native Hawaiians.
On April 17, 1837, Fathers Bachelot and Short returned to Honolulu thinking the deal made with Father Walsh would apply to them. On April 30, the royal government forced them back onto their ship. The American and British Consul
s compelled the king to allow Bachelot and Short to disembark. As a result, the captains of British Navy
and French Navy vessels
escorted Bachelot and Short into Honolulu. Short would leave the Hawaiian Islands again in October.
France
, which claimed to be a defender of the Catholic Church, dispatched the French Navy frigate Artemise which sailed into Honolulu Harbor
on July 10, 1839. Captain Cyrille-Pierre-Théodore Laplace
was ordered by his government to:
Fearing an assault on his kingdom for the religious persecution, Kamehameha III issued the Edict of Toleration
on June 17, 1839. A major disappointment for the Protestant ministers, Catholics became free to worship in the kingdom with the proclamation:
As an act of reconciliation, Kamehameha III donated land to the Catholic Church in Hawaii for the construction of their first permanent church.
Shortly after the Laplace incident and the issuance of the Edict of Toleration, Msgr. Etienne Rouchouze
, Vicar Apostolic of Oriental Oceania, moved to Honolulu from Valparaíso, Chile. The bishop disembarked from his ship at Honolulu Harbor in the company of three Picpus Fathers. One of them was the earlier exiled Louis Désiré Maigret. Their arrival officially signified the Catholic victory over persecution in the Hawaiian Islands and the beginning of a permanent Catholic Church in Hawaii.
The first permanent church broke ground on the memorial feast
of Our Lady of Peace on July 9, 1840. Our Lady of Peace had been the patroness of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary since the turmoil of the French Revolution. Fathers Armand, Bachelot and Short had consecrated the Hawaiian Islands under the protection of Our Lady of Peace when they first arrived. During the groundbreaking Mass, 280 Native Hawaiian catechumens received baptism and confirmation. For the rest of the year, devotees harvested large blocks of coral off the southern coastline of Oahu to build what would become the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.
On the various neighbor islands, Bishop Rouchouze commissioned the construction of other permanent churches to serve as parish missions. They also started building makeshift school
s to teach in the Catholic traditions of academia
. A printing press
was brought into Honolulu for the production of Catholic literature including missals and hymnals written in the Hawaiian language.
In January 1842, an excited Bishop Rouchouze, pleased with the success of his work, decided to sail back to the Paris home of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in order to recruit more Picpus Fathers and religious brothers to serve in the growing Catholic Church in Hawaii. Tragically, Bishop Rouchouze was lost at sea during his voyage back to the Hawaiian Islands. His vicar general took charge of the Vicariate Apostolic of Oriental Oceania while a search party was dispatched. Years later, the search was officially ended and Bishop Rouchouze was declared deceased.
and governed from South America
, its territories included the Marquesas and Tahiti
. After the disappearance of Bishop Rouchouze, the three prefectures were elevated into independent vicariates apostolic. Each would be led by their own bishops.
appointed Louis Desiré Maigret as the succeeding prelate to the late Msgr. Rouchouze. The new vicar apostolic was consecrated in Chile as the titular bishop of Arathia and quickly attended to the needs of the fledgling Catholic Church in Hawaii. The name of the see was changed in 1848 to the Vicariate Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands. Msgr. Maigret completed the construction of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace. He also invited the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary to open proper Catholic schools. The priests and religious brothers of the Society of Mary
(Marianists) were invited to do the same. Msgr. Maigret died on June 11, 1882 and was buried in a crypt
below the sanctuary of the cathedral he built and loved.
Pope Leo XIII
immediately elevated Bernard Hermann Koeckemann
, a Picpus Father from Germany
, as the second Vicar Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands. He was consecrated as the titular bishop
of Olba. During his episcopate, Msgr. Koeckemann saw a wave of new Catholics from the exponentially growing
plantation
laborer population in the Hawaiian Islands. The Catholic Church in Hawaii embraced new parishioners from the Philippines
, Poland
, Portugal
and Spain
among others. There were so many devout Portuguese members that churches often had to include Masses in which the sermon (for the rest of the Mass would have been in Latin) was delivered in the Portuguese language
.
Msgr. Koeckemann also saw the rise of leprosy
cases throughout the kingdom. He oversaw the work of Saint Damien of Molokai and Blessed Marianne Cope
as they served the ailing lepers residing in an isolated colony on the Makanalua peninsula on the island of Molokai
. Both would have causes for canonization opened for them by their respective religious orders.
On February 22, 1892, Msgr. Koeckemann died and was buried at the Honolulu Catholic Cemetery
.
It took several months before Pope Leo XIII appointed someone to succeed Bishop Koeckemann. On June 3, 1892, the pope chose a Picpus Father from France, Gulstan Francis Ropert
to become the third Vicar Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands. He was consecrated as titular bishop of Panopolis. It was during his reign that the Kingdom of Hawaii was embroiled in revolution. American businessmen plotted to overthrow the peaceably reigning Queen of Hawaii. United States Marines
marched towards Iolani Palace, a neighbor of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, and arrested Queen Liliuokalani. A provisional government
was proclaimed before a republic
was established. Msgr. Ropert received pleas by his Native Hawaiian followers to defend Liliuokalani, being tried by a military court
for treason
against the newly created government. Unfortunately, there wasn't much Msgr. Ropert could do. He would become the sole bishop of a new Republic of Hawaii
.
Msgr. Ropert also was responsible for the spiritual needs of local families whose children were sent overseas to fight in the Spanish-American War
. He also consoled Filipinos whose families were lost in the Philippine-American War
. Later in his reign, the Hawaiian Islands became a territory of the United States becoming the first bishop of the Territory of Hawaii
. Msgr. Ropert died on January 4, 1903 and was buried in Honolulu Catholic Cemetery.
Again it would take several months before Pope Leo XIII
appointed someone to succeed the episcopacy in the Hawaiian Islands. On April 8, 1903, the pope appointed a Picpus Father from Antwerp in Belgium
, Libert Hubert John Louis Boeynaems
to become the fourth Vicar Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands. He was consecrated titular bishop of Zeugma. During his reign, Msgr. Boeynaems observed many of his faithful being sent to fight in Europe
during World War I
. He also oversaw the increasing militarization of the Hawaiian Islands. The entire coastline of the island of Oahu was fortified and several United States military bases were established, including: Fort Shafter
, Pearl Harbor
and Schofield Barracks. With the absence of an established military ordinariate in the United States, Msgr. Boeynaems ministered to Catholic service members. After a period of illness, Msgr. Boeynaems died on May 13, 1926, and was buried in Honolulu Catholic Cemetery.
When Msgr. Boeynaems became ill, Pope Pius XI
elevated the first person to have grown up in the Hawaiian Islands to become a vicar apostolic. The pope appointed Stephen Peter Alencastre
, a Picpus Father born in Portugal
who was brought as an infant to the Hawaiian Islands with his family to live. Msgr. Alencastre was raised and educated in Hawaii, living on the various islands. He subsequently graduated from Saint Louis College and was accepted into the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts. He was ordained to the priesthood and educated in Europe by the Picpus Fathers, earning a doctorate in sacred theology. He was later appointed and consecrated as coadjutor vicar apostolic and titular bishop of Arabissus to assist the ailing Msgr. Boeynaems, suffering in hospital
. Upon Msgr. Boeynaems' death, Msgr. Alencastre succeeded as the fifth and final Vicar Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands. Seeing a need for new locally trained priests, Msgr. Alencastre established Saint Stephen's Seminary in Kalihi Valley, named after his personal patron saint. He also oversaw the renovation of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, modernizing it in time for the centennial celebration of the Catholic Church in Hawaii in 1927. He died aboard a ship en route from Los Angeles on November 9, 1940.
decided that the Hawaiian Islands no longer needed a missionary church. Rather, its flourishing Catholic community was mature enough to be administered as a fully independent body of its own. The pope canonically erected the new Diocese of Honolulu on January 25, 1941.
After several months of consideration, the Pope looked outside of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary for a successor to the last vicar apostolic. Pope Pius XII appointed a diocesan priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, James Joseph Sweeney
as the first Bishop of Honolulu on May 20, 1941; Msgr. Sweeney was subsequently ordained to the episcopate on July 25, 1941 in the Cathedral of Saint Mary of Assumption in San Francisco, California
.
Bishop Sweeney's first few months in episcopacy happened in the advent of a most tragic event in Hawaii. On December 7, Japanese imperial forces bombed Pearl Harbor and scraped metropolitan Honolulu. Hundreds of military and civilians died. Explosions were heard around downtown Honolulu and near the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace. Bishop Sweeney shepherded the diocese throughout World War II
.
Blessed John XXIII
opened the Second Vatican Council
on October 11, 1962, and Bishop Sweeney was a council father, one of a many prelates from the United States to attend the sessions. Inspired by the reforms agreed upon in Rome
, he enacted major changes to the liturgy in the Diocese of Honolulu. One of his actions was to renovate the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in keeping with the newly promulgated Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. Soon all parishes offered Mass primarily in the vernacular
in place of Latin and altars were built facing the congregation instead of the sanctuary wall. Slowly, other languages were incorporated into the Mass including the Hawaiian language. Bishop Sweeney also invited the Marist Fathers and Brothers
to staff several parishes on the islands of Oahu and Kauai.
Bishop Sweeney fell ill and could not perform his duties with full vigor. His request for an auxiliary bishop was granted. Years later, Msgr. Sweeney died on his birthday on June 19, 1968. He was buried in Colma
near San Francisco, where he spent his early years as a priest.
appointed John Joseph Scanlan
, the diocese's auxiliary bishop and apostolic administrator as its second ordinary on March 6, 1968. A San Francisco archdiocesan priest from County Cork
in Ireland
, Msgr. Scanlan witnessed the growth of a young state of Hawaii. He was maintained cordial relations with the Catholic Governor of Hawaii
, John A. Burns
even when the Hawaii legislature passed a bill permitting abortion on demand and Governor Burns allowed the bill to become law without his signature. Scanlan was also remembered for his invitation of several religious orders to establish themselves in the Hawaiian Islands. Among such groups were the Society of Jesus
, the Christian Brothers of Ireland, the Religious of the Virgin Mary
, and the Dominican Sisters of Iloilo
. The Jesuits primarily minister to the students of the University of Hawaii at Mānoa
.
In 1977, Msgr. Scanlan served as the principal consecrator of Father Joseph Ferrario as auxiliary bishop. His age was beginning to affect his work. Feeling the pressures of being 75 years old, Msgr. Scanlan chose to retire on June 30, 1981. He died on January 31, 1997 at Nazareth House in San Rafael
, a retirement home
for priests and religious. His funeral was held at the metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption and later at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu. Bishop Scanlan, a father of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, had the honor of being buried beside Bishop Maigret, a father of the First Vatican Ecumenical Council, in a crypt under the sanctuary of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.
appointed the diocese's auxiliary bishop Joseph Anthony Ferrario
, a former Sulpican educator and diocesan priest, as the third Bishop of Honolulu on May 13, 1982.
, auxiliary bishop of Scranton
as Apostolic Administrator of Honolulu
. Later, on November 29, 1994, Pope John Paul II, appointed Msgr. DiLorenzo as the fourth Bishop of Honolulu. The Vatican later appointed Msgr. DiLorenzo as ordinary of the See of Richmond
upon the announcement of the retirement of Richmond bishop Walter Francis Sullivan
. Msgr. DiLorenzo assumed leadership of the Diocese of Richmond upon installation on May 24, 2004.
With the departure of Msgr. DiLorenzo, the diocesan college of consultors in accordance with the Code of Canon Law, on May 28, 2004, elected from their peers Father Thomas L. Gross as temporary diocesan administrator. He also served on the committee that screened candidates for the post of Bishop of Honolulu. On February 1, 2006, Father Marc R. Alexander
became diocesan administrator.
appointed Clarence Richard Silva
, the first native-born person in the episcopacy of the Hawaiian Islands to become a Bishop of Honolulu on May 17, 2005. He also became the second person of Portuguese ancestry in the episcopate since the Msgr. Stephen Peter Alencastre, SS.CC. Formerly the Vicar General of the Diocese of Oakland, Silva was ordained to the episcopate and installed as bishop at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center
Arena
on July 21. Over 3,500 were in attendance, making it one of the largest events held by the Diocese of Honolulu in its history.
The principal consecrator was William Joseph Levada, Archbishop of San Francisco and newly-appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The ordination and installation ceremony was the last official ceremonial function as metropolitan bishop over the Province of San Francisco for Levada; other non-ceremonial functions would continue until his official departure from office. Also in attendance were Gabriel Montalvo Higuera
, Archbishop Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, and Anthony Apuron, Archbishop of Agana as well as personal friend, Deacon Larry Sousa of Norman Oklahoma. Although scheduled to attend the episcopal ordination, Roger Mahony, Cardinal Archbishop of Los Angeles
, was unable to be present due to unforeseen airplane problems at Los Angeles International Airport.
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
Dioecesis Honoluluensis, is an ecclesiastical territory or particular church
Particular Church
In Catholic canon law, a Particular Church is an ecclesial community headed by a bishop or someone recognised as the equivalent of a bishop.There are two kinds of particular Churches:# Local particular Churches ...
of the Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
comprises the entire state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and the unincorporated Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
.
The diocese is suffragan to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Francisco and a part of the ecclesiastical province that includes the San Francisco archdiocese
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern California region of the United States. It covers the City and County of San Francisco and the Counties of Marin and San Mateo...
and the suffragan dioceses of Las Vegas
Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the southern Nevada region of the United States. It comprises the Counties of Clark, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Nye, White Pine and is governed from the City of Las Vegas...
, Oakland
Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Northern California. The diocese comprises Alameda and Contra Costa Counties in the San Francisco Bay Area...
, Reno
Roman Catholic Diocese of Reno
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Reno is an ecclesiastical territory of the Roman Catholic Church in the northern Nevada region of the United States, centered on the city of Reno. With the urging of Cardinal George Mundelein, Archbishop of Chicago, Pope Pius XI established the Diocese on March 27, 1931...
, Sacramento
Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento is an ecclesiastical territory or particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in the northern California region of the United States...
, Salt Lake City
Roman Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, officially in Latin Dioecesis Civitatis Lacus Salsi, is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. It comprises the entire state of Utah. Also known as the Utah Catholic Church or the See of Salt Lake City, its mother church is the...
, San Jose
Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose in California
The Roman Catholic Diocese of San José; in California is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the northern California region of the United States. It comprises Santa Clara County, and is led by a bishop. Its patron saints are Saint Joseph and Saint Clare of...
, Santa Rosa
Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa in California
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa in California is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the northern California region of the United States, named in honor of St. Rose of Lima. It comprises the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa and...
and Stockton
Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the Central Valley and Mother Lode region of California in the United States. It comprises the Counties of Alpine, Calaveras, Mono, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tuolumne...
. The patrons
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of the Diocese of Honolulu are the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Malia O Ka Malu
Malia O Ka Malu
Malia O Ka Malu or Our Lady of Peace is an appellation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Hawaiian language and an official title of the motherchurch of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace...
or Our Lady Queen of Peace
Our Lady of Peace
Our Lady of Peace, Mother of Peace, Queen of Peace or Our Lady Queen of Peace is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Church. She is represented in art holding a dove and an olive branch, symbols of peace. Her official memorial feast is celebrated on January 24 each year in...
, Saint Damien of Molokai
Father Damien
Father Damien or Saint Damien of Molokai, SS.CC. , born Jozef De Veuster, was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium and member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a missionary religious order...
, and Blessed Marianne of Molokai
Mother Marianne Cope
The Blessed Marianne Cope, O.S.F., christened Maria Anna Barbara Koob , was a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Syracuse, a religious congregation of the Roman Catholic Church...
.
The diocese is governed by the Bishop of Honolulu
Roman Catholic Bishop of Honolulu
The Roman Catholic Bishop of Honolulu is the residential bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu in the United States, which encompasses the entire state of Hawaii and the unincorporated Hawaiian Islands. The Honolulu diocese is a suffragan see in the metropolitan province of the...
. His canonical seat or cathedra
Cathedra
A cathedra or bishop's throne is the chair or throne of a bishop. It is a symbol of the bishop's teaching authority in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and has in some sense remained such in the Anglican Communion and in Lutheran churches...
is located at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace
Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace — also known by its original French name Cathédrale de Notre Dame de la Paix, its Portuguese variant Catedral de Nossa Senhora da Paz and its Hawaiian derivative Malia o ka Malu Hale Pule Nui — is the Mother Church of the Diocese of Honolulu and houses...
. With his clergy, the bishop ministers to a culturally diverse population in the following languages: Hawaiian
Hawaiian language
The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...
; English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
; Ilokano
Ilokano language
Ilokano or Ilocano is the third most-spoken language of the Republic of the Philippines....
; Tagalog
Tagalog language
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
; Samoan
Samoan language
Samoan Samoan Samoan (Gagana Sāmoa, is the language of the Samoan Islands, comprising the independent country of Samoa and the United States territory of American Samoa. It is an official language—alongside English—in both jurisdictions. Samoan, a Polynesian language, is the first language for most...
; Tongan
Tongan language
Tongan is an Austronesian language spoken in Tonga. It has around 200,000 speakers and is a national language of Tonga. It is a VSO language.-Related languages:...
; Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
; Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
; Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
; and Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
. It is one of the most diverse and one of the largest dioceses in the United States, in terms of territorial area which spans statewide and includes unpopulated Hawaiian Islands.
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI , born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the Camaldolese, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846...
had divided Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
into two vicariates apostolic. The evangelization of the Vicariate Apostolic of Oriental Oceania
Vicariate Apostolic of Oriental Oceania
The Vicariate Apostolic of Eastern Oceania was a Roman Catholic missionary jurisdiction for some of the South Pacific islands.-History:The whole of Oceania had at first been entrusted by the Propaganda Fide to the Society of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary ; but the territory proving too large,...
(consisting of the prefectures apostolic of Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
, the Marquesas, and the Sandwich Islands) was entrusted to the Picpus Fathers
Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and of the Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar is a Roman Catholic religious order of brothers, priests, and nuns...
, then recently established by Pierre Coudrin. The Vicariate Apostolic of Occidental Oceania was likewise entrusted to the Society of Mary, Marianists and Marists, founded in 1836 at Lyon by Jean-Claude-Marie Colin.
Shortly after the disappearance at sea of the Vicar Apostolic of Oriental Oceania, Msgr. Rouchouze and a company of missionaries on the Marie Joseph in 1843, the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
canonically erected from its territories the Vicariate Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands. Similar vicariates apostolic were created for Tahiti and the Marquesas. Blessed Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
changed its name in 1848 to the Vicariate Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands. Venerable Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
elevated the vicariate apostolic
Apostolic vicariate
An apostolic vicariate is a form of territorial jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church established in missionary regions and countries that do not have a diocese. It is essentially provisional, though it may last for a century or more...
to the dignity of a diocese on January 25, 1941, as it remains today.
Missionaries
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...
was established by the creation of the Prefecture Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands
Prefecture Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands
The Prefecture Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands or the Sandwich Isles Mission , was an ecclesiastical territory of the Roman Catholic Church created by Pope Leo XII on November 27, 1825 encompassing the Sandwich Islands and entrusted to the care of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus...
by Pope Leo XII
Pope Leo XII
Pope Leo XII , born Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiore Girolamo Nicola Sermattei della Genga, was Pope from 1823 to 1829.-Life:...
and the appointment of Alexis Bachelot
Alexis Bachelot
Alexis John Augustine Bachelot was a Roman Catholic priest best known for his tenure as the first Prefect Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands. In that role, he led the first Catholic mission to the Kingdom of Hawaii....
as its first and only prefect, a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and of the Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar is a Roman Catholic religious order of brothers, priests, and nuns...
, a religious order
Religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...
called the Picpus Fathers, founded by Pierre Coudrin
Peter Coudrin
Peter Coudrin or Pierre Coudrin of France was the founder of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church famous for its missionary work in Hawaii...
during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. The first Picpus Fathers departed from Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
aboard the La Comète on November 21, 1826 and stopped in Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
on February 8, 1827. The Picpus Fathers resumed their trip on February 25. They entered port at Honolulu Harbor
Honolulu Harbor
Honolulu Harbor, also called Kulolia and Ke Awa O Kou, is the principal seaport of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii in the United States. It is from Honolulu Harbor, located on Mamala Bay, that the City & County of Honolulu was developed and urbanized, in an outward fashion, over the course of the...
on July 7. Having originally been refused entry by Protestant advisors to the king, the Picpus Fathers did not disembark from their ship until July 9, the Feast of Our Lady of Peace
Our Lady of Peace
Our Lady of Peace, Mother of Peace, Queen of Peace or Our Lady Queen of Peace is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Church. She is represented in art holding a dove and an olive branch, symbols of peace. Her official memorial feast is celebrated on January 24 each year in...
. Among the first Picpus Fathers were Abraham Armand
Abraham Armand
Abraham Armand was a priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church. He was one of the first Catholic missionaries to arrive in the Kingdom of Hawaii, arriving in 1827 in the company of Alexis Bachelot, Patrick Short and six lay...
and Alexis Bachelot
Alexis Bachelot
Alexis John Augustine Bachelot was a Roman Catholic priest best known for his tenure as the first Prefect Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands. In that role, he led the first Catholic mission to the Kingdom of Hawaii....
of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, as well as Patrick Short
Patrick Short
Patrick Short was a Roman Catholic priest who is best known for his role in the first Catholic mission in the Kingdom of Hawaii.He was a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a Catholic religious order. Short was of Anglo-Irish descent.Short left for Hawaii from...
of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. They were joined by six lay brothers. It has been claimed that Fathers Armand, Bachelot and Short concelebrated the first Mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
in the Hawaiian Islands on Bastille Day
Bastille Day
Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July of each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale and commonly le quatorze juillet...
, July 14, 1827, in honor of their religious order's French heritage, but this is untrue, and an anachronism: concelebration of masses was not practiced at the time, and since France was being ruled by the restored Bourbon monarchy, "Bastille Day" would certainly not be marked as a national holiday. They performed the first baptism on November 30.
The Picpus Fathers were quick to plunge into the Hawaiian society. They learned the local language, went into the Native Hawaiian
Native Hawaiians
Native Hawaiians refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants. Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the original Polynesian settlers of Hawaii.According to the U.S...
community and began preaching to them. They distributed Hawaiian language
Hawaiian language
The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...
Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
s and taught the lessons of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
from the gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
s. Hundreds of Native Hawaiians chose to receive the sacrament
Sacrament
A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...
s of baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
, confirmation and Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
. Among the first converts were William Pitt Kalanimoku
Kalanimoku
William Pitt Kalanimoku was a High Chief who functioned similar to a prime minister of the Hawaiian Kingdom during the reigns of Kamehameha I, Kamehameha II and the beginning of the reign of Kamehameha III. He was called The Iron Cable of Hawaii because of his abilities.-Life:Kalanimoku was born ...
who was baptized aboard the French vessel L'Uranie by Abbe de Quelen which arrived in 1819, four months after the death of Kamehameha the Great. Also the royal governors of Oahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
, Boki
Boki
Boki may refer to:*Boki Royal Governor of Oahu*Boki, Nigeria Local Government Area in Africa*Boki people in Nigeria*Boki Milošević Serbian clarinetist*Boki Nachbar Slovenian basketball player...
and Liliha. They would both become pivotal members of the Catholic underground.
Persecution
ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
missionaries
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
were influential in shaping the modern society of the kingdom after the deaths of Kamehameha I
Kamehameha I
Kamehameha I , also known as Kamehameha the Great, conquered the Hawaiian Islands and formally established the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810. By developing alliances with the major Pacific colonial powers, Kamehameha preserved Hawaii's independence under his rule...
and Kamehameha II
Kamehameha II
Kamehameha II was the second king of the Kingdom of Hawaii. His birth name was Liholiho and full name was Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu Iolani...
. The missionaries, largely Congregationalists
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
from New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, baptized the queen regent Kaahumanu and persuaded her to create religious policy favoring the suppression of the Catholic Church in Hawaii. Kamehameha III
Kamehameha III
Kamehameha III was the King of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name was Keaweaweula Kiwalao Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula Kiwalao Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa Kalani Waiakua Kalanikau Iokikilo Kiwalao i ke kapu Kamehameha when he ascended the throne.Under his...
agreed and enacted its expulsion from the kingdom. Fathers Bachelot and Short were forcibly boarded onto the brig Waverly by the chiefs loyal to Kaahumanu and they left Honolulu Harbor on December 24, 1831. They landed off the coast of California and worked in the California Missions
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the archdiocese comprises the California counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The diocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the...
near the present-day City of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Native Hawaiian converts of the Catholic Church claimed to have been imprisoned, beaten and tortured after the physical expulsion of their missionary priests. The persecution was prescribed, according to the Bishop Museum
Bishop Museum
The Bishop Museum , is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu...
, by the Protestant ministers claiming that such treatment was ordained by God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. Commodore John Downes
John Downes
John Downes may refer to:*John Downes , English commissioner convicted of regicide of Charles I of England at the restoration of Charles II*John Downes John Downes may refer to:*John Downes (regicide) (1609 – c. 1666), English commissioner convicted of regicide of Charles I of England at the...
of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
USS Potomac
USS Potomac (1822)
The first USS Potomac was a frigate in the United States Navy.Potomac was laid down by the Washington Navy Yard in August 1819, was launched March 1822. Fitting out was not completed until 1831, when Captain John Downes assumed command as first commanding officer...
expressed American disappointment of the king's decision resulting in the brief end of physical harm for the converts.
In 1835, both the vicar apostolic (Rouchouze) and prefect apostolic (Bachelot) working from Valparaíso dispatched Columba Murphy
Columba Murphy
Columba Murphy of Ireland, was a religious brother and later priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church. He was one of the first Catholic missionaries to arrive in the Kingdom of Hawaii during the persecution by Kaahumanu,...
, a religious brother from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
affiliated with the Picpus Fathers, to evaluate the situation in the Hawaiian Islands. While other Picpus Fathers were denied entry into the kingdom, the king permitted Murphy to disembark from his ship due to his investigative role and the fact that Murphy, a mere brother, could not minister the sacraments. On September 30, 1836, Arsenius Walsh
Arsenius Walsh
Arsenius Walsh was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in the United Kingdom and later in the Kingdom of Hawaii.He was a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious order based in Paris and founded by Peter Coudrin during the French Revolution. Walsh arrived in...
, a Picpus Father, arrived in Honolulu to continue Murphy's work. Murphy had left earlier to report back to his superiors. The royal government refused Walsh's entry. However, the captain of the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
ship
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
La Bonite persuaded the king to allow Walsh to stay. The royal government agreed to permit the Picpus Fathers to work freely in the Hawaiian Islands as long as they only attended to foreign Catholics, not Native Hawaiians.
On April 17, 1837, Fathers Bachelot and Short returned to Honolulu thinking the deal made with Father Walsh would apply to them. On April 30, the royal government forced them back onto their ship. The American and British Consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
s compelled the king to allow Bachelot and Short to disembark. As a result, the captains of British Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and French Navy vessels
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
escorted Bachelot and Short into Honolulu. Short would leave the Hawaiian Islands again in October.
France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, which claimed to be a defender of the Catholic Church, dispatched the French Navy frigate Artemise which sailed into Honolulu Harbor
Honolulu Harbor
Honolulu Harbor, also called Kulolia and Ke Awa O Kou, is the principal seaport of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii in the United States. It is from Honolulu Harbor, located on Mamala Bay, that the City & County of Honolulu was developed and urbanized, in an outward fashion, over the course of the...
on July 10, 1839. Captain Cyrille-Pierre-Théodore Laplace
Cyrille-Pierre-Théodore Laplace
Cyrille Pierre Théodore Laplace was a French navigator famous for his circumnavigation of the globe on board La Favorite. He was pivotal in the opening of French trade in the Pacific and was instrumental in the establishment of the Hawaiian Catholic Church. He achieved the rank of captain.-Early...
was ordered by his government to:
Fearing an assault on his kingdom for the religious persecution, Kamehameha III issued the Edict of Toleration
Edict of Toleration
An edict of toleration is a declaration made by a government or ruler and states that members of a given religion will not be persecuted for engaging in their religious practices and traditions...
on June 17, 1839. A major disappointment for the Protestant ministers, Catholics became free to worship in the kingdom with the proclamation:
As an act of reconciliation, Kamehameha III donated land to the Catholic Church in Hawaii for the construction of their first permanent church.
Foundation
Etienne Jerome Rouchouze
Etienne Jerome Rouchouze, SS.CC. of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary served as Vicar Apostolic and Titular Bishop of Nilopolis from 1833 to 1843 of the Vicariate Apostolic of Oriental Oceania, from which were derived the Archdiocese of Pape‘ete, the Roman Catholic Diocese of...
, Vicar Apostolic of Oriental Oceania, moved to Honolulu from Valparaíso, Chile. The bishop disembarked from his ship at Honolulu Harbor in the company of three Picpus Fathers. One of them was the earlier exiled Louis Désiré Maigret. Their arrival officially signified the Catholic victory over persecution in the Hawaiian Islands and the beginning of a permanent Catholic Church in Hawaii.
The first permanent church broke ground on the memorial feast
Calendar of saints
The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the feast day of said saint...
of Our Lady of Peace on July 9, 1840. Our Lady of Peace had been the patroness of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary since the turmoil of the French Revolution. Fathers Armand, Bachelot and Short had consecrated the Hawaiian Islands under the protection of Our Lady of Peace when they first arrived. During the groundbreaking Mass, 280 Native Hawaiian catechumens received baptism and confirmation. For the rest of the year, devotees harvested large blocks of coral off the southern coastline of Oahu to build what would become the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.
On the various neighbor islands, Bishop Rouchouze commissioned the construction of other permanent churches to serve as parish missions. They also started building makeshift school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s to teach in the Catholic traditions of academia
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
. A printing press
Printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...
was brought into Honolulu for the production of Catholic literature including missals and hymnals written in the Hawaiian language.
In January 1842, an excited Bishop Rouchouze, pleased with the success of his work, decided to sail back to the Paris home of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in order to recruit more Picpus Fathers and religious brothers to serve in the growing Catholic Church in Hawaii. Tragically, Bishop Rouchouze was lost at sea during his voyage back to the Hawaiian Islands. His vicar general took charge of the Vicariate Apostolic of Oriental Oceania while a search party was dispatched. Years later, the search was officially ended and Bishop Rouchouze was declared deceased.
Vicariate Apostolic
Through the period that began with the landing of Fathers Armand, Bachelot and Short to the proclamation of the Edict of Toleration and arrival of Bishop Rouchouze, the Hawaiian Islands were administered as a prefecture within the larger Vicariate Apostolic of Oriental Oceania. Created in 1833 by Pope Gregory XVIPope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI , born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the Camaldolese, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846...
and governed from South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, its territories included the Marquesas and Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
. After the disappearance of Bishop Rouchouze, the three prefectures were elevated into independent vicariates apostolic. Each would be led by their own bishops.
Maigret
The Vicariate Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands was established and on July 11, 1847, Blessed Pius IXPope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
appointed Louis Desiré Maigret as the succeeding prelate to the late Msgr. Rouchouze. The new vicar apostolic was consecrated in Chile as the titular bishop of Arathia and quickly attended to the needs of the fledgling Catholic Church in Hawaii. The name of the see was changed in 1848 to the Vicariate Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands. Msgr. Maigret completed the construction of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace. He also invited the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary to open proper Catholic schools. The priests and religious brothers of the Society of Mary
Society of Mary (Marianists)
The Society of Mary, a Roman Catholic Marian Society, is a congregation of brothers and priests called The Marianists or Marianist Brothers and Priests. The Society was founded by Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, a priest who survived the anti-clerical persecution during the French Revolution. ...
(Marianists) were invited to do the same. Msgr. Maigret died on June 11, 1882 and was buried in a crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
below the sanctuary of the cathedral he built and loved.
Koeckemann
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
immediately elevated Bernard Hermann Koeckemann
Herman Koeckemann
Herman Koeckemann, formally Bernard Hermann Koeckemann, SS.CC., , served as the second vicar apostolic of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands — now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu — from 1881 to 1892.Born in Ostbeveren, Westphalia, Germany, he was baptized as Bernard...
, a Picpus Father from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, as the second Vicar Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands. He was consecrated as the titular bishop
Titular bishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.By definition a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop the tradition of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches is that he be ordained for a specific place...
of Olba. During his episcopate, Msgr. Koeckemann saw a wave of new Catholics from the exponentially growing
Exponential growth
Exponential growth occurs when the growth rate of a mathematical function is proportional to the function's current value...
plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
laborer population in the Hawaiian Islands. The Catholic Church in Hawaii embraced new parishioners from the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
among others. There were so many devout Portuguese members that churches often had to include Masses in which the sermon (for the rest of the Mass would have been in Latin) was delivered in the Portuguese language
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
.
Msgr. Koeckemann also saw the rise of leprosy
Leprosy
Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
cases throughout the kingdom. He oversaw the work of Saint Damien of Molokai and Blessed Marianne Cope
Mother Marianne Cope
The Blessed Marianne Cope, O.S.F., christened Maria Anna Barbara Koob , was a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Syracuse, a religious congregation of the Roman Catholic Church...
as they served the ailing lepers residing in an isolated colony on the Makanalua peninsula on the island of Molokai
Molokai
Molokai or Molokai is an island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is 38 by 10 miles in size with a land area of , making it the fifth largest of the main Hawaiian Islands and the 27th largest island in the United States. It lies east of Oahu across the 25-mile wide Kaiwi Channel and north of...
. Both would have causes for canonization opened for them by their respective religious orders.
On February 22, 1892, Msgr. Koeckemann died and was buried at the Honolulu Catholic Cemetery
Honolulu Catholic Cemetery
The Honolulu Catholic Cemetery is a cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii. The cemetery is for Roman Catholics and is located at 839-A South King Street, . It is maintained by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu and has been the final resting place for many Roman Catholics from Honolulu before 1930. The...
.
Ropert
Gulstan Ropert
Gulstan Ropert, SS.CC., of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary served as the third vicar apostolic of the Apostolic Vicariate of the Sandwich Islands — now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, from 1892 to 1903. Born in France at Kerfago, St. Gildas de Rhuys, Morbihan, in...
to become the third Vicar Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands. He was consecrated as titular bishop of Panopolis. It was during his reign that the Kingdom of Hawaii was embroiled in revolution. American businessmen plotted to overthrow the peaceably reigning Queen of Hawaii. United States Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
marched towards Iolani Palace, a neighbor of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, and arrested Queen Liliuokalani. A provisional government
Provisional Government of Hawaii
The Provisional Government of Hawaii abbreviated "P.G." was proclaimed on January 17, 1893 by the 13 member Committee of Safety under the leadership of Sanford B. Dole...
was proclaimed before a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
was established. Msgr. Ropert received pleas by his Native Hawaiian followers to defend Liliuokalani, being tried by a military court
Judge Advocate General's Corps
Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, refers to the legal branch or specialty of the U.S. Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called Judge Advocates. The Marine Corps and Coast Guard do not maintain separate JAG Corps...
for treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
against the newly created government. Unfortunately, there wasn't much Msgr. Ropert could do. He would become the sole bishop of a new Republic of Hawaii
Republic of Hawaii
The Republic of Hawaii was the formal name of the government that controlled Hawaii from 1894 to 1898 when it was run as a republic. The republic period occurred between the administration of the Provisional Government of Hawaii which ended on July 4, 1894 and the adoption of the Newlands...
.
Msgr. Ropert also was responsible for the spiritual needs of local families whose children were sent overseas to fight in the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
. He also consoled Filipinos whose families were lost in the Philippine-American War
Philippine-American War
The Philippine–American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection , was an armed conflict between a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following...
. Later in his reign, the Hawaiian Islands became a territory of the United States becoming the first bishop of the Territory of Hawaii
Territory of Hawaii
The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 7, 1898, until August 21, 1959, when its territory, with the exception of Johnston Atoll, was admitted to the Union as the fiftieth U.S. state, the State of Hawaii.The U.S...
. Msgr. Ropert died on January 4, 1903 and was buried in Honolulu Catholic Cemetery.
Boeynaems
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
appointed someone to succeed the episcopacy in the Hawaiian Islands. On April 8, 1903, the pope appointed a Picpus Father from Antwerp in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Libert Hubert John Louis Boeynaems
Libert H. Boeynaems
Libert H. Boeynaems, formally Libert Hubert John Louis Boeynaems, SS.CC., , was the fourth vicar apostolic of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands — now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu....
to become the fourth Vicar Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands. He was consecrated titular bishop of Zeugma. During his reign, Msgr. Boeynaems observed many of his faithful being sent to fight in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He also oversaw the increasing militarization of the Hawaiian Islands. The entire coastline of the island of Oahu was fortified and several United States military bases were established, including: Fort Shafter
Fort Shafter
Fort Shafter is in Honolulu CDP, City and County of Honolulu, Hawai‘i, extending up the interfluve between Kalihi and Moanalua valleys, as well as onto the coastal plain at Māpunapuna. Fort Shafter is the headquarters of the United States Army Pacific Command, the MACOM of U.S. Army forces in...
, Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
and Schofield Barracks. With the absence of an established military ordinariate in the United States, Msgr. Boeynaems ministered to Catholic service members. After a period of illness, Msgr. Boeynaems died on May 13, 1926, and was buried in Honolulu Catholic Cemetery.
Alencastre
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
elevated the first person to have grown up in the Hawaiian Islands to become a vicar apostolic. The pope appointed Stephen Peter Alencastre
Stephen Alencastre
Bishop Stephen Peter Alencastre, SS.CC. was the fifth and last vicar apostolic of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands — now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu...
, a Picpus Father born in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
who was brought as an infant to the Hawaiian Islands with his family to live. Msgr. Alencastre was raised and educated in Hawaii, living on the various islands. He subsequently graduated from Saint Louis College and was accepted into the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts. He was ordained to the priesthood and educated in Europe by the Picpus Fathers, earning a doctorate in sacred theology. He was later appointed and consecrated as coadjutor vicar apostolic and titular bishop of Arabissus to assist the ailing Msgr. Boeynaems, suffering in hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
. Upon Msgr. Boeynaems' death, Msgr. Alencastre succeeded as the fifth and final Vicar Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands. Seeing a need for new locally trained priests, Msgr. Alencastre established Saint Stephen's Seminary in Kalihi Valley, named after his personal patron saint. He also oversaw the renovation of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, modernizing it in time for the centennial celebration of the Catholic Church in Hawaii in 1927. He died aboard a ship en route from Los Angeles on November 9, 1940.
Diocese
Msgr. Alencastre's premonition that the vicariate would be elevated to diocesan status was fulfilled earlier than expected. Upon his death, Venerable Pius XIIPope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
decided that the Hawaiian Islands no longer needed a missionary church. Rather, its flourishing Catholic community was mature enough to be administered as a fully independent body of its own. The pope canonically erected the new Diocese of Honolulu on January 25, 1941.
Sweeney
James Joseph Sweeney
James Joseph Sweeney was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the first Bishop of Honolulu, serving from 1941 until his death in 1968.-Biography:...
as the first Bishop of Honolulu on May 20, 1941; Msgr. Sweeney was subsequently ordained to the episcopate on July 25, 1941 in the Cathedral of Saint Mary of Assumption in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
.
Bishop Sweeney's first few months in episcopacy happened in the advent of a most tragic event in Hawaii. On December 7, Japanese imperial forces bombed Pearl Harbor and scraped metropolitan Honolulu. Hundreds of military and civilians died. Explosions were heard around downtown Honolulu and near the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace. Bishop Sweeney shepherded the diocese throughout World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Blessed John XXIII
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
opened the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
on October 11, 1962, and Bishop Sweeney was a council father, one of a many prelates from the United States to attend the sessions. Inspired by the reforms agreed upon in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, he enacted major changes to the liturgy in the Diocese of Honolulu. One of his actions was to renovate the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in keeping with the newly promulgated Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. Soon all parishes offered Mass primarily in the vernacular
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
in place of Latin and altars were built facing the congregation instead of the sanctuary wall. Slowly, other languages were incorporated into the Mass including the Hawaiian language. Bishop Sweeney also invited the Marist Fathers and Brothers
Society of Mary (Marists)
The Society of Mary , is a Roman Catholic religious congregation or order, founded by Father Jean-Claude Colin and a group of other seminarians in France in 1816...
to staff several parishes on the islands of Oahu and Kauai.
Bishop Sweeney fell ill and could not perform his duties with full vigor. His request for an auxiliary bishop was granted. Years later, Msgr. Sweeney died on his birthday on June 19, 1968. He was buried in Colma
Colma, California
Colma is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, at the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,792 at the 2010 census. The town was founded as a necropolis in 1924....
near San Francisco, where he spent his early years as a priest.
Scanlan
Pope Paul VIPope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
appointed John Joseph Scanlan
John Joseph Scanlan
John Joseph Scanlan was the second Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu in the United States.Born in Iniscarra in County Cork, Ireland, Scanlan was ordained a priest on June 22, 1930 for the Archdiocese of San Francisco.On July 8, 1954, Scanlan was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of...
, the diocese's auxiliary bishop and apostolic administrator as its second ordinary on March 6, 1968. A San Francisco archdiocesan priest from County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Msgr. Scanlan witnessed the growth of a young state of Hawaii. He was maintained cordial relations with the Catholic Governor of Hawaii
Governor of Hawaii
The Governor of Hawaii is the chief executive of the state of Hawaii and its various agencies and departments, as provided in the Hawaii State Constitution Article V, Sections 1 through 6. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by popular suffrage of residents of the state...
, John A. Burns
John A. Burns
John Anthony Burns served as the second Governor of Hawaii from 1962 to 1974. Born in Fort Assinniboine, Montana, Burns was a resident of Hawaii from 1913....
even when the Hawaii legislature passed a bill permitting abortion on demand and Governor Burns allowed the bill to become law without his signature. Scanlan was also remembered for his invitation of several religious orders to establish themselves in the Hawaiian Islands. Among such groups were the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
, the Christian Brothers of Ireland, the Religious of the Virgin Mary
Religious of the Virgin Mary
The Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary is a ecclesiastical community of vowed religious Roman Catholic women of pontifical right and approval founded in Manila, Philippines. The community was founded in 1684 by Venerable Mother Ignacia del Espíritu Santo, a Filipino Roman Catholic...
, and the Dominican Sisters of Iloilo
Iloilo
Iloilo is a province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Iloilo occupies the southeast portion of Panay Island and is bordered by Antique Province to the west and Capiz Province and the Jintotolo Channel to the north. Just off Iloilo's southeast coast is Guimaras Province,...
. The Jesuits primarily minister to the students of the University of Hawaii at Mānoa
University of Hawaii at Manoa
The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a public, co-educational university and is the flagship campus of the greater University of Hawaii system...
.
In 1977, Msgr. Scanlan served as the principal consecrator of Father Joseph Ferrario as auxiliary bishop. His age was beginning to affect his work. Feeling the pressures of being 75 years old, Msgr. Scanlan chose to retire on June 30, 1981. He died on January 31, 1997 at Nazareth House in San Rafael
San Rafael, California
San Rafael is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area...
, a retirement home
Retirement home
A retirement home is a multi-residence housing facility intended for senior citizens. Typically each person or couple in the home has an apartment-style room or suite of rooms. Additional facilities are provided within the building, including facilities for meals, gathering, recreation, and some...
for priests and religious. His funeral was held at the metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption and later at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu. Bishop Scanlan, a father of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, had the honor of being buried beside Bishop Maigret, a father of the First Vatican Ecumenical Council, in a crypt under the sanctuary of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.
Mgr Ferrario
Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
appointed the diocese's auxiliary bishop Joseph Anthony Ferrario
Joseph Anthony Ferrario
Joseph Anthony Ferrario was the third bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu and served from 1982 to 1993.-Early life and priestly ministry:...
, a former Sulpican educator and diocesan priest, as the third Bishop of Honolulu on May 13, 1982.
DiLorenzo
Upon Msgr. Ferrario's announcement of his retirement, the Vatican had appointed Msgr. Francis DiLorenzoFrancis X. DiLorenzo
Francis Xavier DiLorenzo is a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Honolulu in Hawaii, and is currently the twelfth bishop of the Diocese of Richmond in Virginia.-Early life and career:...
, auxiliary bishop of Scranton
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
as Apostolic Administrator of Honolulu
Apostolic Administrator
An apostolic administrator in the Roman Catholic Church is a prelate appointed by the Pope to serve as the ordinary for an apostolic administration...
. Later, on November 29, 1994, Pope John Paul II, appointed Msgr. DiLorenzo as the fourth Bishop of Honolulu. The Vatican later appointed Msgr. DiLorenzo as ordinary of the See of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
upon the announcement of the retirement of Richmond bishop Walter Francis Sullivan
Walter Francis Sullivan
Walter Francis Sullivan is a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States.Bishop Sullivan served as the Eleventh Bishop of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia from July 19, 1974 to September 16, 2003...
. Msgr. DiLorenzo assumed leadership of the Diocese of Richmond upon installation on May 24, 2004.
With the departure of Msgr. DiLorenzo, the diocesan college of consultors in accordance with the Code of Canon Law, on May 28, 2004, elected from their peers Father Thomas L. Gross as temporary diocesan administrator. He also served on the committee that screened candidates for the post of Bishop of Honolulu. On February 1, 2006, Father Marc R. Alexander
Marc R. Alexander
Marc R. Alexander is a Roman Catholic priest of the diocese of Honolulu, and its vicar general. Prior to February 1, 2006, he served the diocese as diocesan theologian and pastor of a clustered parish known as the Manoa-Punahou Catholic Community. He was born in Sagami, Japan...
became diocesan administrator.
Silva
Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
appointed Clarence Richard Silva
Clarence Richard Silva
Clarence Richard Silva, popularly known as Larry Silva , is a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the fifth Bishop of Honolulu, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on May 17, 2005, to oversee the Diocese of Honolulu. Previous to his appointment to the epicopacy, he served as a diocesan priest...
, the first native-born person in the episcopacy of the Hawaiian Islands to become a Bishop of Honolulu on May 17, 2005. He also became the second person of Portuguese ancestry in the episcopate since the Msgr. Stephen Peter Alencastre, SS.CC. Formerly the Vicar General of the Diocese of Oakland, Silva was ordained to the episcopate and installed as bishop at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center
Neal S. Blaisdell Center
The Neal S. Blaisdell Center in downtown Honolulu, Honolulu CDP is a community center for the City & County of Honolulu. Constructed in 1964 on the historic Ward Estate and originally called the Hawaii International Center, the center was renamed after Mayor of Honolulu Neal S. Blaisdell...
Arena
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
on July 21. Over 3,500 were in attendance, making it one of the largest events held by the Diocese of Honolulu in its history.
The principal consecrator was William Joseph Levada, Archbishop of San Francisco and newly-appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The ordination and installation ceremony was the last official ceremonial function as metropolitan bishop over the Province of San Francisco for Levada; other non-ceremonial functions would continue until his official departure from office. Also in attendance were Gabriel Montalvo Higuera
Gabriel Montalvo Higuera
Gabriel Montalvo Higuera was born in Bogotá, Colombia. He was an archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church, and was the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States from 1998 until 2005.- Ministry and Assignments:...
, Archbishop Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, and Anthony Apuron, Archbishop of Agana as well as personal friend, Deacon Larry Sousa of Norman Oklahoma. Although scheduled to attend the episcopal ordination, Roger Mahony, Cardinal Archbishop of Los Angeles
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the archdiocese comprises the California counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The diocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the...
, was unable to be present due to unforeseen airplane problems at Los Angeles International Airport.
Special Anniversaries of Significance to the Diocese
- January 23 - Memorial, Blessed Marianne Cope, religious (2005)
- January 25 - Anniversary of the Canonical Erection by Pope Pius XII of the Catholic Diocese of Honolulu (1941)
- May 10 - Memorial, Saint Damien of Molokai, religious (1995)
- May 17 - Anniversary of the Appointment of Clarence Richard Silva, Vicar General of the Diocese of Oakland, as Fifth Bishop of Honolulu (2005)
- July 9 - Memorial, Blessed Virgin Mary under the Title, Queen of Peace
- July 21 - Anniversary of the Ordination to the Episcopate and Installation of Clarence Richard Silva as Fifth Bishop of Honolulu (2005)
- July 28 - Anniversary of Dedication of the Co-Cathedral of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus, Honolulu (1985)
- August 15 - Anniversary of Dedication of the Cathedral of Our Lady, Queen of Peace, Honolulu (1843)
Presbyterium and Permanent Diaconate
See, Catholic Clergy of HonoluluHigh schools
- Damien Memorial SchoolDamien Memorial SchoolDamien Memorial School is a private Roman Catholic prep-school for grades 6-12 located in Kalihi, Oahu, a section of Honolulu, Hawaii. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, the school is sponsored by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and is accredited by the Western Association...
, Honolulu - Maryknoll SchoolMaryknoll SchoolMaryknoll School is a private, coeducational Catholic Christian school serving children in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in Honolulu, Hawaii...
, Honolulu - Sacred Hearts AcademySacred Hearts AcademySacred Hearts Academy also known as Sacred Hearts or SHA is located on 3253 Waialae Avenue, in the town of Kaimuki in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a historic Roman Catholic college preparatory school for girls founded in 1909 to serve the needs of early Hawaii Catholics in the former Territory of Hawaii...
, Honolulu - Saint Francis SchoolSaint Francis SchoolSaint Francis School in Honolulu, Hawai‘i is located in the neighborhood of Mānoa next to the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is a Roman Catholic school serving boys and girls in grades Pre-K through 2nd and 6th through 8th grade. The high...
, Honolulu - Saint Louis SchoolSaint Louis SchoolSaint Louis School, located in the town of Kaimuki in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a historic Roman Catholic college preparatory school for boys founded in 1846 to serve the needs of early Hawaiian Catholics in the former Kingdom of Hawaii...
, Honolulu - St. Anthony High SchoolSt. Anthony High School (Wailuku, Hawaii)St. Anthony Jr/Sr High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Wailuku, Hawaii in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.-Background:...
, Wailuku - St. Joseph High SchoolSt. Joseph High School (Hilo, Hawaii)St. Joseph School is a private school run by the Roman Catholic Church in Hilo, the second largest city in Hawaii. It serves about 300 students in kindergarten through 12th grade...
, Hilo
See also
- Eastern Catholic Community in HawaiiEastern Catholic Community in HawaiiThe Eastern Catholic Community in Hawaii encompasses all Catholics of the Eastern Catholic Churches. It is based in Honolulu, Hawaii.-Churches:...
- Episcopal Diocese of HawaiiEpiscopal Diocese of HawaiiThe Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii is the ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Episcopal Church of the Anglican Communion in the United States encompassing the state of Hawaii...
- Hawaii Catholic HeraldHawaii Catholic HeraldThe Hawaii Catholic Herald is the present-day version of a series of official newspapers of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu and its predecessor vicariate apostolic...
- Hawaii Reformed Catholic Church
- List of the Roman Catholic bishops of Honolulu
- List of the Roman Catholic bishops of the United States
- List of the Roman Catholic cathedrals of the United States
- List of the Roman Catholic dioceses of the United States
Sources
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco
- Catholic Diocese of Honolulu
- Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace
- French in Hawaii by Hawaii History
- Life in Hawaii by Titus Coan
- Catholic Missions in the 19th and 20th Century (in French)