Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 22, 2013

Alexis Bachelot (1796–1837) was a Roman Catholic priest and first Prefect Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands who led the first permanent Catholic mission to the Kingdom of Hawaii. He arrived in Hawaii in 1827, expecting the approval of King Kamehameha II. He learned upon arrival that the king had died and that the new government was hostile towards Catholic missionaries. Bachelot nevertheless converted a small group of Hawaiians and quietly ministered to them for four years before being deported on the orders of Kaʻahumanu, the Kuhina Nui of Hawaii. Bachelot traveled to California, where he served as an assistant minister. In 1837, having learned of Kaʻahumanu's death and King Kamehameha III's willingness to allow Catholic priests, Bachelot returned to Hawaii, but found that Kamehameha III had changed his mind. Bachelot was removed from the island and confined to a ship for several months. He was freed after the French and British navies imposed a blockade on Honolulu harbor. He later secured passage on a ship to Micronesia, but died en route. His treatment prompted the government of France to dispatch a frigate to Hawaii, an intervention that led to the emancipation of Catholics there. (Full article...)

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