Bishops of Hawaii
During its mission period (1827-1940), the Catholic Church in Hawaii had six bishops. Officially referred to as vicars apostolic, they all belonged to the France-based Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary who sent the first Catholic missionaries to Hawaii in 1827. Since the establishment of the Diocese of Honolulu in 1941, Hawaii has had five bishops.
BISHOP STEPHEN ROUCHOUZE (1833-1843)
Hawaii’s first missionary bishop was a Frenchman. He was consecrated a bishop in l833 to head the mission of “Eastern Oceania” which included the islands of Hawaii, Tahiti, Gambier, Marquesas and Tuamotu. He was stationed in Gambier in 1835, and after religious freedom was declared in Hawaii, arrived here on May 15, 1840.
On June 6, he baptized 195 Native Hawaiians at the Honolulu mission on Fort Street, then signed a contract later that month for the building of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.
Bishop Rouchouze sailed for Europe on Jan. 3, 1841, to gather more missionaries and supplies for his Pacific missions. But on his return voyage in early 1843, his ship, the “Marie-Joseph,” sank and all were lost at sea.
BISHOP LOUIS MAIGRET (1847-1882)
French Sacred Hearts Father Louis Maigret was exiled from Hawaii in 1839 with the dying Sacred Hearts Father Alexis Bachelot, Hawaii’s first Catholic priest.
Made a bishop in 1847, Bishop Maigret’s jurisdiction was limited to the Hawaii mission. He completed the cathedral planned by his predecessor in 1843; founded the island’s Catholic school, Ahuimanu, in 1846; and brought in Hawaii’s first nuns, the Sacred Hearts Sisters, in 1859.
Bishop Maigret ordained Father Damien de Veuster in the Honolulu cathedral on May 14, 1864, and in 1873 assigned him to Molokai. In late 1869, he attended the First Vatican Council in Rome.
Bishop Maigret died on June 11, 1882.
BISHOP HERMAN KOECKEMANN (1882-1892)
German-born Bishop Herman Koeckemann arrived in Hawaii in 1854 as a young priest and was assigned continually to the Honolulu mission. He was made coadjutor bishop, one designated to follow the present bishop, on Aug. 21, 1881, to assist the aging Bishop Louis Maigret.
Bishop Koeckemann became Hawaii’s third vicar apostolic following Maigret’s death nearly a year later. He strongly promoted education, introducing the Marianist Brothers to staff Catholic boys’ schools in Honolulu, Wailuku and Hilo. Bishop Koeckemann welcomed Mother Marianne Cope and her Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse to work with Hansen’s disease patients in Honolulu and Molokai.
Bishop Koeckemann died shortly after been stricken with paralysis on Feb. 22, 1892.
BISHOP GULSTAN ROPERT (1892-1903)
Father Gulstan Ropert came to Hawaii from France in 1868 and was assigned to Hamakua, Hawaii island. He made Waipio Valley his center and had Father Damien, his neighbor in Kohala, build a couple of chapels there.
He was appointed bishop on Sept. 25, 1892. He followed his predecessor in supporting education with the building of Catholic schools and assisted the Franciscan sisters with their hospital program in Kalaupapa.
In December 1892, Bishop Ropert constructed a two-story residence for the mission fathers on the cathedral grounds and, fronting it, he erected the statue of Our Lady of Peace that still stands today in the cathedral courtyard.
Bishop Ropert’s administration witnessed the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and the eventual annexation of Hawaii by the United States. He died on Jan. 4, 1903.
BISHOP LIBERT BOEYNAEMS (1903-1926)
Bishop Libert Boeynaems came from Belgium to Hawaii in 1881.
Appointed bishop on July 25, 1903, he initiated many building projects throughout the missions. Sacred Heart Church, Punahou (1914); St. Joseph Church, Hilo (1919); the renovation of St. Anthony of Padua Church, Wailuku (1920); St. Anthony’s Orphanage, Kalihi Valley (1909); St. Anthony’s Orphanage, Wailuku (1923); and Father Louis Boys’ Home, Hilo (1916) were all part of his building program. He also had an ambitious plan to convert the Fort Street cathedral into an impressive Gothic structure.
In 1910, Bishop Boeynaems constructed an ornate Gothic porch fronting the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace as a first phase of his proposed plan to renovate the church.
BISHOP STEPHEN ALENCASTRE (1926-1940)
Born of Portuguese parents in Porto Santo, near Madeira, the future Bishop Stephen Alencastre migrated to Hawaii with his family when he was just an infant.
He was sent to Europe for his seminary studies and was ordained a priest at the Fort Street cathedral on April 5, 1902. On April 29, 1924, Father Alencastre became a coadjutor bishop to the sickly Bishop Boeynaems, succeeding him upon his death in 1926.
The new bishop, Hawaii’s sixth and last vicar apostolic, realized the changing times and saw the need to train island boys for the priesthood. He founded the first St. Stephen’s Seminary in Kalihi Valley. Bishop Alencastre also did major renovation to the cathedral, importing the marble main altar to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Catholic faith in Hawaii in 1927.
Bishop Alencastre was also responsible for the continual building of schools and churches in the islands.
BISHOP JAMES J. SWEENEY (1941-1967)
Father James J. Sweeney of San Francisco was named by Pope Pius XII on May 20, 1941, as the first bishop of the newly established Diocese of Honolulu. Bishop Stephen Alencastre had died six months earlier.
Bishop Sweeney was appointed seven months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. During the war, he organized a Crusade of Prayer where children adopted one of the many service members who flooded the islands and prayed for their safety.
Catholic education blossomed under Bishop Sweeney. By his 25th anniversary, the diocese had two seminaries, 10 Catholic high schools and 30 elementary schools with 17,150 students enrolled. Bishop Sweeney also established the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) to teach the faith to children attending non-Catholic schools.
Bishop Sweeney also created many new parishes — 23 across the islands.
To increase the number of priests for the diocese, Bishop Sweeney purchased the Harold Castle home in Kailua and turned it into St. Stephen’s Seminary in May 1946. He also built up the diocese’s Catholic Social Service, reorganized Catholic Charities in 1943 and again revamped it in 1948.
With Auxiliary Bishop John J. Scanlan, Bishop Sweeney attended the first session of the Second Vatican Council in 1962.
BISHOP JOHN J. SCANLAN (1967-1982)
Born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1906, and serving in San Francisco since his ordination in 1930, Bishop Scanlan was named auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Honolulu in 1954. In 1967, Pope Paul VI appointed him apostolic administrator of the diocese when illness forced Bishop James J. Sweeney to retire.
Upon Bishop Sweeney’s death the next year, Bishop Scanlan was named the second bishop of Honolulu. He created four new parishes and built nine churches. He also honored Hawaii’s diversity by establishing Masses in Korean, Filipino and Vietnamese, and helped to start a Samoan Catholic Council.
Bishop Scanlan invited nine new religious communities to serve in the diocese in various roles. And in 1981, he ordained the diocese’s first class of permanent deacons.
He ordained Bishop Joseph A. Ferrario as his auxiliary bishop in 1978. Three years later, he retired at the mandatory age of 75, remaining as apostolic administrator of the diocese until Bishop Ferrario was elevated to bishop in 1982.
BISHOP JOSEPH A. FERRARIO (1982-1993)
Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Bishop Joseph A. Ferrario came to Hawaii as a Sulpician priest to teach at St. Stephen’s Seminary.
After joining the diocese, he held various administrative positions including the directorship of the popular Catholic Youth Organization. He also served as pastor in two Oahu parishes.
In 1978, Father Ferrario was ordained auxiliary bishop to Bishop John J. Scanlan, succeeding him four years later in June 1982.
Under the goals of “outreach, unity and renewal,” Bishop Ferrario reorganized Catholic Charities, established the Office for Social Ministry and various ethnic ministries, encouraged parish renewal and actively promoted the concept of stewardship in the diocese. He also established two parishes and laid the groundwork for the Augustine Educational Foundation to provide tuition assistance for children in Catholic schools.
A strong supporter of liturgical renewal, Bishop Ferrario created the Office of Worship and encouraged the updating of church interiors.
Bishop Ferrario retired on Oct. 13, 1993, due to ill health.
BISHOP FRANCIS X. DILORENZO (1993-2004)
Philadelphia native Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo was the auxiliary bishop of Scranton, Pennsylvania, when Pope John Paul II named him to be administrator of the Diocese of Honolulu immediately upon the retirement of Bishop Joseph A. Ferrario.
He served as administrator for a year before the pope appointed him as the fourth bishop of Honolulu.
Installed on Nov. 30, 1994, at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa, Bishop DiLorenzo introduced a diocese-wide parish renewal and review program called the “Welcoming Parish.”
In June 2000, Bishop DiLorenzo convened the diocese’s second synod to prepare the church in Hawaii for the 21st century through the drafting of 12 major proposals. Youth ministry and religious education were the top concerns.
The bishop also increased and strengthened the diocese’s ministry to newly arrived immigrants. He substantially increased the number of clergy from the Philippines, first to work among Hawaii’s Filipino Catholics, then to staff many of Hawaii’s parishes.
During his administration, the diocese joined a coalition to block a move to legalize same-sex marriage in Hawaii through court mandate. The effort led successfully to the adoption a state constitutional amendment, which gave the power to ban same-sex marriage back to the Legislature.
Bishop DiLorenzo’s administration also responded to the national sexual abuse scandal by heightening its response to victims, establishing a victim assistance program, publicizing its sexual misconduct policies and mandating safe environment training for all clergy and church and school employees.
After nearly 11 years in Hawaii, Bishop DiLorenzo was appointed by the Holy Father to be bishop of Richmond, Virginia. He was installed in Richmond on May 24, 2004.
BISHOP CLARENCE ‘LARRY’ SILVA (2005-2026)
Bishop Larry Silva was ordained and installed as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Honolulu on July 21, 2005. He is the only bishop of Honolulu born in Hawaii; when he was a year old, his family moved to Oakland, California.
He was a priest of the Oakland diocese for 30 years before he was picked to lead the church in Hawaii.
The centerpiece of Bishop Silva’s administration was his “Diocesan Road Map for Pastoral, Program and Facility Needs 2008-2013.” Its main goals were leadership development, youth and young adult programs, faith formation, homelessness, repair and maintenance of church and school facilities and management of land assets.
To finance these goals, in 2008 the bishop initiated an ambitious five-year capital campaign, the first such major campaign in 40 years. The goal was $30 million; island Catholics pledged more that $57 million. He followed up his “Road Map” with a second pastoral plan, “Stewards of the Gospel 2016 to 2020.”
One of Bishop Silva’s passions was the saintly legacy the diocese inherited in St. Damien de Veuster and St. Marianne Cope, who sacrificed their lives for the quarantined Hansen’s disease patients in Kalaupapa. Two of his own relatives were sent to Kalaupapa.
He was bishop when both Father Damien and Mother Marianne were canonized, an honor for any bishop. He is now leading the effort for the beatification of layman Joseph Dutton.
Bishop Silva also successfully petitioned Rome to designate Hawaii’s cathedral as a minor basilica. The church is presently undergoing its most extensive restoration ever, scheduled to be completed in 2027, the 200th anniversary year of Catholicism in Hawaii.
Bishop Silva also oversaw the sale of the church property under the senior living complex Kahala Nui in Waialae-Kahala for a record $90 million, which will support a wide variety of diocesan ministries.