The Prefecture Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands or ''the Sandwich Isles Mission'' ( la, Praefectura Apostolica Sandwigiensis in Oceania), was an ecclesiastical territory of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

created by

Pope Leo XII Pope Leo XII ( it, Leone XII; born Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiorre Girolamo Nicola della Genga (; 2 August 1760 – 10 February 1829), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 28 September 1823 to his death ...

on November 27, 1825, encompassing the Sandwich Islands (now the state of Hawai‘i) and entrusted to the care of the

Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary () abbreviated SS.CC., is a Roman Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men priests and brothers. The congregation is also known as the Picpus because their firs ...

. Father

Alexis Bachelot Alexis Bachelot, SS.CC., (born Jean-Augustin Bachelot; 22 February 1796 – 5 December 1837) was a Catholic priest best known for his tenure as the first Prefect Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands. In that role, he led the first permanent C ...

, SS.CC., was the only Prefect. The Prefecture was made subject to the newly created

Vicariate Apostolic of Oriental Oceania The Vicariate Apostolic of Eastern Oceania was a Roman Catholic missionary jurisdiction for some of the South Sea (Pacific) islands from 1833 till 1848. History The whole of Oceania had at first been entrusted by the Roman Congregation Propaganda ...

on June 2, 1833. The present-day successor to the prefecture is the Diocese of Honolulu.

References

Sandwich Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Ku ...

Sandwich Islands, Prefecture Apostolic of 1825 establishments in Hawaii {{RC-stub