Name/Title
Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of PeaceDescription
Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace
The first Catholic missionaries to Hawaii, three priests of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (also known as the Society of Picpus), arrived in Honolulu from France on July 7, 1827. Apostolic prefect Alexis Bachelot celebrated the first recorded Catholic Mass on Hawaiian soil on July 14 in a grass hut on a rented lot.[1] On August 30, 1827, the missionaries acquired a royal land grant from 14-year-old King Kamehameha III with the help from the Catholic governor of Oahu, high chief Boki.[2] On this property, in January 1828, the French erected the first Catholic church in Hawaii where the sanctuary of the cathedral is today.[1]
However, King Kamehameha III under pressure by both American Protestant missionaries and the Kuhina Nui, Kaʻahumanu,[3] Catholic priests were expelled from the islands between 1829 and 1839 to thwart any French or Catholic influence.[4] During this “dark decade” of anti-Catholic persecution, foreign priests were deported and not allowed to come to shore, and known converts were tortured and imprisoned.[5][6] Under the threat of force from the French government, the Hawaiian government issued the Edict of Toleration on June 17, 1839, creating freedom of religious expression.[7][8] As reparation, Kamehameha III gave the first Roman Catholic missionaries under the leadership of Vicar Apostolic Étienne Rouchouze, a piece of the royal estate on which to build the first Roman Catholic church in the kingdom and $20,000 in compensation for the deportation of priests and the incarceration and torture of converts.[1][7][9] The 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii enshrined religious liberty.[10]
A Mass was celebrated on the day of groundbreaking and 280 native Hawaiians received the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and first Eucharist. The cornerstone of the building was ceremonially laid on August 6, 1840.[1] Construction continued after groundbreaking with native Hawaiian volunteers harvesting blocks of coral from the shores of Ala Moana, Kakaʻako, and Waikīkī. Down the street, Congregationalist missionaries had earlier begun the construction of Kawaiahaʻo Church.[11][12]Created By
hawaiiancovers@gmail.comCreate Date
April 13, 2025Update Date
April 13, 2025
