Louis-Désiré Maigret, SS.CC., (September 14, 1804 – June 11, 1882), served as the first

vicar apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands; now the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu The Catholic Diocese of Honolulu ( la, Diœcesis Honoluluensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church that comprises the entire state of Hawaii and the unincorporated Hawaiian Islands. The Diocese of Honol ...

. Born in Saint-Pierre-de-Maillé (France), Maigret was ordained to the priesthood as a member 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 ...

on September 23, 1828, at the age of 24. As part of his missionary work, Father Maigret sailed to the

Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent island ...

to l.p. build its Catholic community of

native Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...

. The diocese sent him as a missionary to

Pohnpei Pohnpei "upon (''pohn'') a stone altar (''pei'')" (formerly known as Ponape or Ascension, Proto-Chuukic-Pohnpeic: ''*Fawo ni pei)'' is an island of the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group. It belongs to Pohnpei ...

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

in December 1837 on the schooner ''Notre Dame de Paix''. He was the first missionary they had seen. In his company were "several

Mangareva Mangareva is the central and largest island of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. It is surrounded by smaller islands: Taravai in the southwest, Aukena and Akamaru in the southeast, and islands in the north. Mangareva has a permanent pop ...

ns and Tahitians," some of whom remained on Pohnpei and left descendants. He departed on 29 July 1838 for Valparaiso after seven unsuccessful months.Bunson, Maggie. ''Faith in Paradise''. Boston: St. Paul Publishing. 1977, pp. 43, 65 When the Vicar Apostolic of Oriental Oceania, Msgr. Étienne Rouchouze, SS.CC., was lost at sea on board the ill-fated ''Marie Joseph'' in early 1843, the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

appointed Father Maigret as the first vicar apostolic of the Sandwich Islands on September 11, 1846, at the age of 42. He was officially ordained as a bishop of the titular see of

Arathia Arathia was a city and bishopric in the late Roman province of Cappadocia Prima, Asia Minor, whose ecclesiastical metropolis was at Caesarea (modern Kayseri, Turkey).John Mason Neale, ''A History of the Holy Eastern Church'', I:75 London, 185ful ...

(Arad) on November 28, 1847, at the age of 43. Bishop Maigret oversaw the construction of what would become his most lasting legacy, the

Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace (French: ''Cathédrale de Notre Dame de la Paix''; Portuguese: ''Catedral de Nossa Senhora da Paz''; Hawaiian: ''Malia o ka Malu Hale Pule Nui''; Latin: ''Basilicæ cathedralis Sanctæ Mariæ de Pa ...

. After his death, Maigret was entombed in the crypt below the sanctuary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maigret, Louis 1804 births 1882 deaths Apostolic vicars of the Hawaiian Islands Picpus Fathers Roman Catholic missionaries in Hawaii French Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in the Federated States of Micronesia