St. Michael's Cathedral (), also known as the Rikitea Cathedral, is a parish of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

located on Mangareva Island in the

Gambier Islands The Gambier Islands ( or ) are an archipelago in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an area of , and are made up of the Mangareva Islands, a group of high islands remnants of a caldera alo ...

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

. Its historic

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

was built on the eastern side of

Rikitea Rikitea is a small town on Mangareva, which is part of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. A majority of the islanders live in Rikitea. The island was a protectorate of France in 1871 and was annexed in 1881. History The town's history dates ...

between 1839 and 1848 by missionaries 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 Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for priests and brothers. The congregation is also known as the Picpus because their first house w ...

. It formerly served as

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

for what is now the Archdiocese of Papeete, and was extensively renovated in 2011. The parish community remains very active, within the limitations of the small population of the island.

History

The cathedral was built under the auspices of the

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

by Father Cyprien Liausu, Superior of the Mission of Our Lady of Peace in the Gambiers, after he arrived in Rikitea in 1835."Letter of Fr. Cyprian Liausu to the Superior General of the ss.cc, 18 January 1841", ''Annals of the Propagation of the Faith'', Vol. 3, p. 165, 1842
/ref> The cornerstone for the cathedral was laid on 17 January 1839, and Bishop

Étienne Jérôme Rouchouze Étienne, a French analog of Stephen or Steven, is a masculine given name. An archaic variant of the name, prevalent up to the mid-17th century, is Estienne. Étienne, Etienne, Ettiene or Ettienne may refer to: People Artists and entertainers * ...

blessed the site on 4 April 1839. Lay brothers

Gilbert Soulié Gilbert Soulié, SS.CC., (born ''Antoine Soulié''; 1800 – 13 June 1863) was a French Catholic Catechist brother of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church. He was part of the R ...

and

Fabien Costes Fabien Costes, SS.CC., (born ''Joseph Costes''; 1796 – 6 May 1878) was a French Catholic Catechist brother of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church. He was part of the Roman C ...

were responsible for the masonry work, assisted by fifteen native workers. Bishop

Florentin-Étienne Jaussen Florentin-Étienne Jaussen, SS.CC., (2 April 1815 – 9 September 1891) was the first Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Papeete, bishop of Tahiti and the man who brought the rongorongo script of Easter Island to the world's attention. In the 1860s ...

visited in February 1849 and was sufficiently impressed that in April 1856 Soulié and sixty Mangareva workers travelled to Tahiti to work on

Notre Dame Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It ...

Papeete Papeete (Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Papeʻetē'', pronounced ; old name: ''Vaiʻetē''Personal communication with Michael Koch in ) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the France, French Republic in the Pacific ...

. Ten years later, these same skilled workers constructed the beacon at Point Venus in Tahiti.Hodeé, Paul. "Catholic Influence in the Islands", ''Tahiti 1834-1984''
/ref>

Architecture

The building measures in length, is wide, and rises to a height of . It can seat 1200 people, and is thrice the size of the current cathedral,

. Indeed, it remains the largest church in the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. The structure is constructed of coral limestone and coral lime plaster, painstakingly imported by raft from quarries at

Tauna Tauna is an islet in the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia. In and around Polynesia, islets are commonly referred to as Motu, a term used for the coral-rubble islets typical of the region. During a recent filming of the television show GT Hunt ...

Tekava Tekava is an island of the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia. See also * Desert island * List of islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water A body of water or waterbod ...

, and

Kouaku Kouaku is an island of the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia. See also * Desert island * List of islands References

{{coord, 23.2092, S, 134.8589, W, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:FR, display=title Islands of the Gambi ...

. The two towers were built in 1847–48. The interior is richly decorated with

mother of pearl Nacre ( , ), also known as mother-of-pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is ...

. The altar has ornamentation of fine pearl oyster engravings of

Mother-of-pearl Nacre ( , ), also known as mother-of-pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is ...

s, encased with black pearls.

François Caret François d'Assise Caret, SS.CC., (born François Toussaint Caret; 4 July 1802 – 26 October 1844) was a French Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church. Life ...

, a colleague of Laval, was buried in a crypt before the altar. The tomb of

Maputeoa Te Maputeoa (baptized Gregorio Stanislas; reigned as Gregorio I; born c. 1814 – 20 June 1857) was a monarch of the Polynesian island of Mangareva and the other Gambier Islands. He was the King or ''ʻAkariki'' (paramount chief), as well as ...

(died 1857), who was the king of Mangareva, is situated in a separate chapel, the Chapel of St. Pierre, Atititoa. Many other early Catholic missionaries are also buried here. The cathedral was extensively refurbished starting in 2009, at a controversial cost of 4.5 million euros, and re-opened to worship on December 3, 2011. Above the entrance is the inscription ‘Quis ut Deus’ the meaning of ‘Who is like God’ and the literal meaning of the Hebrew ‘Michael’.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

*
Mémoires et découvertes Saint-Michel, la renaissance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Michael's Cathedral, Rikitea Religion in French Polynesia Cathedrals in French Polynesia Mangareva Roman Catholic churches completed in 1848 Roman Catholic cathedrals in French Polynesia 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings