Capsule History of the Catholic Church in Hawaii

By Father Louis Yim and Patrick Downes

July 7, 1827

The first Catholic missionaries, members of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts from France headed by Father Alexis Bachelot, arrive in Hawaii. Immediately opposed by the Hawaiian Kingdom, they still managed to establish a mission in Honolulu.

July 13, 1827

The first recorded Mass is celebrated on Hawaiian soil in Honolulu.

December 24, 1831

The kingdom has Fathers Bachelot and Patrick Short deported to California. Brothers Leonard Portal and Melchoir Bondu remain at the Honolulu mission.

September 30, 1836

Sacred Hearts Father Robert Arsensius Walsh arrives in Hawaii. Being a British subject, he is permitted to remain but is prohibited from converting the native Hawaiians. In later years he establishes the first Catholic missions on the islands of Hawaii, Kauai, and Niihau. He is called the “Apostle of Hawaii.”

April 17, 1837

Fathers Bachelot and Short return. On Oct. 6, Father Louis Maigret arrives. Again, the priests are met with opposition from the Hawaiian government.

November 23, 1837

Fathers Bachelot and Maigret are expelled from Hawaii. On Dec. 5, the sickly Father Bachelot, Hawaii’s first Catholic missionary, dies at sea. He is buried on the tiny reef island of Na, off Ponape, in the Caroline Islands.

July 9, 1839

The French war ship “L’Artemise” arrives in Honolulu Harbor. Threatening force, its captain, Cyril Laplace, demands religious freedom for Catholics in Hawaii with a document later called “Laplace’s Manifesto.” Kamehameha III concedes.

May 15, 1840

Catholic mission experiences a revival with the arrival of the first vicar apostolic Bishop Stephen Rouchouze and other priests. Missions were initiated throughout the islands.

June 26, 1840

Fathers Walsh and Ernest Heurtel open the first mission on the Big Island of Hawaii in Kailua, Kona. The island’s first Mass is celebrated soon after.

January 3, 1841

Bishop Rouchouze leaves for France to build a ship for his new mission and bring back missionary priests, sisters as well as supplies. On his return, the ship with all its passengers and crew. all are lost at sea in March of 1843, near the Strait of Magellan.

January 24, 1841

Father Maigret celebrates the first Mass on Maui in Lahaina.

December 25, 1841

Father Walsh celebrates the first Mass on Kauai in Koloa, establishing a mission on that island.

July 31, 1842

Father Walsh celebrates the first Mass on Niihau, beginning a mission there.

March 1843

Bishop Rouchouze’s ship, the Marie-Joseph, en route from France to Hawaii, is lost at sea with all its passengers and crew near the Strait of Magellan.

August 15, 1843

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu is dedicated. It is one of the oldest Catholic cathedrals in continuous use in the United States, the oldest building structure in “downtown” Honolulu and the oldest existing Catholic church in Hawaii.

November 10, 1845

Kamehameha III grants the Catholic mission land in Kahaluu, on the windward side of Oahu, for the building of a school. The following year, Ahuimanu College, Hawaii’s first Catholic school, is open for classes.

April 21, 1846

Fathers Modest Favens and Barnabe Castan begin a mission on Maui. About 4,000 Hawaiians, already instructed in the faith by lay catechist Helio Mahoe and others, eagerly welcome the priests and are baptized.

September 11, 1846

Father Louis Maigret is appointed bishop and second vicar apostolic of the Hawaiian mission.

October 18, 1846

The first Mass on Lanai is celebrated by Father Modest Favens.

May 4, 1859

The Sacred Hearts Sisters, the first nuns in Hawaii, arrive. They open a convent school on Fort Street, next to the cathedral.

March 19, 1864

Deacon Damien de Veuster is a member of a new contingent of Sacred Hearts missionaries from Belgium and France. After a few months of study, he is ordained a priest on May 21 in the Honolulu cathedral and is assigned to Puna on the Big Island, and later the more rugged Kohala district.

May 10, 1873

Father Damien arrives at Kalawao on Molokai’s isolated Kalaupapa peninsula to care for the Hansen’s disease patients who were abandoned there by government edict to die. He stays to transform a lawless, discarded community into one of compassion, dignity and care for those forced to live there.

September 30, 1878

The first Portuguese immigrants arrive in Hawaii from the Azores. By the end of the century, more than 18,000 will settle in the islands. Among the new arrivals are the great grandparents of the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Honolulu, Bishop Clarence Silva. With the decrease of the Hawaiian population, Catholic missionary efforts shift to these newcomers.

June 11, 1882

Bishop Maigret dies. An outstanding Catholic leader, he labored 42 years in Hawaii, 35 years as bishop. His administration saw the Catholic conversion of the Hawaiian people rivaling the Protestant efforts. The builder of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, he is buried below its sanctuary. Bishop Hermann Koeckemann succeeds him as the third vicar apostolic of the Hawaii Mission.

September 3, 1883

Marianist (Society of Mary) Brothers arrive in Hawaii and establish Catholic boys’ schools in Honolulu (St. Louis College), Wailuku (St. Anthony School), and Hilo (St. Mary School).

November 8, 1883

Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse, N.Y., led by Mother Marianne Cope, arrive in Honolulu to care for the Hansen’s disease patients at the Kakaako Branch Hospital in Honolulu.

Nov. 14, 1988

Mother Marianne arrives in Kalaupapa with two other sisters to care for the residents of the Charles R. Bishop Home.

April 15, 1889.

Father Damien dies and is buried beside his church, St. Philomena’s in Kalawao, Molokai.

June 3, 1892

Bishop Gulstan Ropert is appointed the fourth vicar apostolic of the islands. He expanded Catholic schools in Hawaii, built a two-story residence for the mission fathers on the cathedral grounds, and was bishop during the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and the annexation of the islands by the United States.

April 6, 1903

Bishop Libert Boeynaems as named Hawaii’s fifth vicar apostolic. He initiated major building projects which include main churches on several islands and two orphanages.

Aug. 9, 1918

Mother Marianne Cope dies of natural causes.

May 13, 1926

Bishop Stephen Alencastre, a Portuguese immigrant who grew up in Hawaii, is appointed as Hawaii’s sixth Vicar Apostolic. During his administration, Bishop Alencastre establishes Catholic schools and orphanages, St. Francis Hospital, and the first St. Stephen’s Seminary in Kalihi Valley. In 1929, he divides the Honolulu Mission into nine “quasi-parishes.”

1936

At the request of the Belgian government, Father Damien’s body is exhumed from Kalaupapa and transported to Belgium, his home country.

Nov. 9, 1940

Bishop Alencastre dies. The Hawaii Catholic Mission era comes to an end.

September 10, 1941

Pope Pius XII establishes the islands of Hawaii as the Diocese of Honolulu.

May 20, 1941

The pope appoints Father James J. Sweeney, a priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, as the first Bishop of Honolulu. Under extreme war-time conditions (1941-1945), Bishop Sweeney establishes the various diocesan offices. More parish churches and schools are constructed and staffed by new religious communities invited into the Diocese. In 1946, he builds the new St. Stephen’s Seminary in Kailua which is administered and staffed by the Sulpician Fathers. In 1957, he calls the first and only Diocesan Synod at the Cathedral in Honolulu.

June 19, 1968

Bishop Sweeney dies in San Francisco.

March 13, 1968

Pope Paul VI appoints Bishop John J. Scanlan, Hawaii’s auxiliary Bishop since 1954, as the second Bishop of Honolulu. He fought against the liberalization of Hawaii state abortion laws in 1970 and was a forceful leader of the pro-life movement throughout his administration. He welcomes into the diocese teaching nuns from the Philippines to prevent the closing of parochial schools and priests from his native Ireland. During his administration, the changes introduced by the Second Vatican Council are incorporated into the life of the church in Hawaii. St. Stephen’s high school and college seminary is closed in stages and candidates for the priesthood sent to the mainland for study.

1978

Father Joseph A. Ferrario is appointed auxiliary Bishop of Honolulu.

June 29, 1982

Pope John Paul II appoints Bishop Ferrario as the third Bishop of Honolulu, following the retirement of Bishop Scanlan. Following an agenda of “outreach, unity and renewal,” Bishop Ferrario encourages greater involvement in social ministry, liturgical awareness and parish ministry. He reorganizes Catholic Social Service into Catholic Charities, one of the largest social service agencies in the state, establishes the Augustine Educational Foundation, and initiated demographic and educational studies formulated to guide the church of Hawaii into the 21st century.

Oct. 13, 1993

Bishop Ferrario retires and Pope John Paul II names Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo as the diocese’s apostolic administrator.

Nov. 30, 1994

Bishop DiLorenzo is installed as the fourth Bishop of Honolulu.

June 4, 1995

Pope John Paul II beatifies Father Damien in Brussels, Belgium.

May 24, 2004

Bishop DiLorenzo is installed as the Bishop of Richmond, Va. The diocesan college of consultors elect Father Thomas Gross to be diocesan administrator.

May 14, 2005

Cardinal Saraiva Martins beatifies Mother Marianne Cope in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome.

July 21, 2005

Father Clarence “Larry” Silva, vicar general of the Diocese of Oakland, Calif., is ordained and installed as the fifth Bishop of Honolulu.