The islands’ earliest convert to Christianity became a Catholic 199 years ago this month
By Father Louis Yim
Special to the Herald
In the year 1819, before the arrival of Protestant and, later, Catholic missionaries to our island kingdom, a high ranking alii, on his own accord, made the bold decision to become a Christian. That summer he was baptized in the Catholic faith. The event took place on the deck of a French military vessel in Kawaihae Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii. The convert was the high chief Kalanimoku and the following account is the story of this moment in Hawaii’s history.
When Kamehameha the Great died in Kailua, Kona, on May 8, 1819, his 22-year-old son, Liholiho, ascended the Hawaiian throne as Kamehameha II. Abiding by the kapu system, the young king was required to relocate to another domicile. Packing his massive belongings, he and his large court moved up the coastline to Kawaihae Bay in the district of Kohala. Establishing his new community here, Liholiho and his subjects paid tribute to the war god Kuka‘ilimoku in his father’s favorite Puukohola Heiau.
While these events were taking place, the French corvette (a type of small warship) Uranie, on a global voyage of exploration under the command of Captain Louis Freycinet, was sailing the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Having departed the island of Guam, the vessel was on course to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) where Freycinet intended to refurbish his expedition with needed provisions and supplies.
By August 1819, Uranie was in Hawaiian waters and the captain, being informed that the local king was situated on the island called Hawaii, decided to make his island stop at Kawaihae Bay. Going ashore, Freycinet was greeted by a large crowd of islanders. Liholiho and the entire assembly of the royal court were there to welcome Uranie to the islands.
In the shade of his large grass house, the king carried on a normal diplomatic discussion with his visitor. Serving as an interpreter was his personal secretary, a young Frenchman named Jean Baptiste Rives. An interesting moment occurred when the king showed a keen interest in the captain’s ceremonial sword at his side. Before the ending of their meeting, Freycinet handed the sword with its scabbard to the king and made this comment: “One does not need (a sword) when in the midst of … friends!”
During their conversation, the king had spoken of a prominent chief named Kalanimoku. He was the prime minister of the kingdom and had distinguished himself throughout his devoted service to the late Kamehameha I. The king urged Freycinet to meet the chief. That afternoon the captain did greet Kalanimoku and invited him, along with his favorite wife, Likelike, for a visit aboard the Uranie.
While on board, Kalanimoku was introduced to the Abbe de Quelen, a Catholic priest assigned as chaplain for this French expedition. And here the story of the Catholic conversion of Kalanimoku begins.
Wished to become a Christian
Freycinet wrote in his journal that Kalanimoku, while walking on deck that evening, noticed the priest’s “uniform.”
“Informed of the functions of this ecclesiastic,” Freycinet said, “he told him that for a long time he had wished to become a Christian and that therefore he begged him to be kind enough to baptize him.”
According to Freycinet, the chief told the chaplain that his mother had been baptized and on her deathbed had “advised him to submit himself to this ceremony as soon as he might find the opportunity.”
The priest agreed to Kalanimoku’s request and the ceremony was scheduled for the next day. King Liholiho asked if he could attend.
The following day the king came on board accompanied by his five wives, his younger brother, the widow of the late Kamehameha I, the dowager queen Kaahumanu, and the men and women of Liholiho’s court.
Freycinet describes the king as dressed in a blue “hussar” military uniform with gold braid and epaulets. With him were five officers, one carrying his sword, another his fan, two more holding “enormous blunderbusses” and the last one carrying his pipe, “which he was charged with keeping lighted.”
The quarterdeck was decorated with flags, one spread on the deck for the princesses to sit on. Likelike and Kaahumanu were given chairs.
Freycinet’s wife, Rose de Freycinet, in her journal, described the baptism from the window of her husband quarters, where she said she had a “perfect view of the ceremony and the spectators.”
When Abbe de Quelen baptized Kalanimoku, the prime minister “appeared quite moved during the entire ceremony,” she said.
The captain served as godfather and Kalanimoku took the baptismal name Louis.
Freycinet continued the story. “When the baptism was over, I served my guests refreshments on deck. It was really amazing to see with what rapidity bottles of wine and brandy disappeared.”
The historic event was also captured in watercolor sketches by Jacques Arago, the ship’s artist. He recorded a crowded scene with native Hawaiians in both western and native attire, uniformed members of the ship’s crew and a contingent of smartly-dressed French marines standing at attention.
The book, “Paintings, Prints and Drawings of Hawaii From the Sam and Mary Cooke Collection,” by David Forbes, describes a later engraving of the image as “stunning” and “clear evidence of the transitions then in effect in the islands.”
“It is doubtful whether any of those present understood the full implication of the event,” the book states.
After the baptism, the Uranie sailed on to Oahu where on Aug. 27 the Abbe de Quelen performed another on-board baptism, this time for Kalanimoku’s brother Boki Kamauleule, the governor of Oahu.
The following year, 1820, would see the arrival of the American Protestant missionaries and the establishment of their mission. The Catholics officially founded their Hawaii mission in 1827 with the coming from France of priests and brothers of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Kalanimoku died before the arrival of the Catholic missionaries, but they found a friend and staunch supporter in Boki.