Bishop Stephen Peter Alencastre, SSCC (born Estêvão Pedro de Alencastre; November 3, 1876 – November 9, 1940) was a bishop of the

Roman 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 ...

who served as the fifth and last

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 Hawaiian Islands (now the

Diocese of Honolulu The Diocese of Honolulu () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese for the state of Hawaii in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of San Francisco. The mother ...

). He was also an apparent

titular Titular may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Title character in a narrative work, the character referred to in its title Religion * Titular (Catholicism), a cardinal who holds a titulus, one of the main churches of Rome ** Titular bisho ...

bishop of

Arabissus Arabissus or Arabissos (), also known as Tripotamos, was a town in ancient Cataonia, then Cappadocia, and later in the Roman province of Armenia Secunda. History The Byzantine Emperor Maurice was born there in 539 who embellished it during hi ...

Early life

Born on the island of

Porto Santo Porto Santo Island () is a Portuguese island and municipality northeast of Madeira Island in the North Atlantic Ocean; it is the northernmost and easternmost island of the archipelago of Madeira, located in the Atlantic Ocean west of Europe an ...

in the

Madeira Islands Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of the Canary Islands, Spain, wes ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and brought to

Hawai‘i Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, t ...

as an infant, Alencastre later returned to Europe to finish his seminary studies in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. He was ordained to the priesthood on April 5, 1902, at the age of 25, 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 Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for priests and brothers. The congregation is also known as the Picpus because their first house w ...

and returned to serve the people of Hawai‘i.

Episcopacy

When the Vicar Apostolic, Libert H. Boeynaems, SSCC, fell ill, Alencastre was appointed by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

coadjutor The term "coadjutor" (literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadjutor bishop ...

Vicar Apostolic, with the right of succession, on April 29, 1924.Catholic Hawai'i website, ''Most Reverend Larry Silva, Bishop of Honolulu'', article published in the Hawaii Catholic Herald, Volume 68, No. 16, July 15, 2005
/ref> On August 24 of that year, he was consecrated

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

at the age of 47. Upon the death of Boeynaems on May 13, 1926, Alencastre automatically succeeded him as Vicar Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands. He was the first bishop in Hawai‘i to have been raised in the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...

. Alencastre's personal mission included continuing to expand the number of schools and parish churches in the Islands (and to renovate the existing ones) and to build a seminary to form vowed religious locally to the priesthood. This came to fruition with the building of St. Stephen's Seminary, named in honor of the Bishop's own

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

, which is still operational. The bishop was also partly responsible for the increase in the variety of religious orders in Hawai‘i, inviting such groups as the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and the

Maryknoll Maryknoll is a Catholic non-profit mission movement consisting of four organizations. Together, they work as missioners around the world as Lay People, Priests, Brothers and Sisters. Mary's Knoll to Maryknoll In 1912, the Catholic Foreign Missi ...

sEncyclopedia.com website, ''Hawaii, The Catholic Church In''
/ref> to help spread of Catholicism in the Hawaiian Islands.

Episcopal arms

A window in the

Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace is the mother church and cathedral of the Diocese of Honolulu. History Groundbreaking The first Catholic missionaries to Hawaii, three priests of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and M ...

in Honolulu depicts his episcopal coat-of-arms, as well as a portrayal of a blessing being bestowed upon him by Pope Pius XI. His episcopal motto was "''Opportet illum regnare''" ("He

hrist In Norse mythology, a valkyrie (from Old Norse ''valkyrja'' "chooser of the fallen") is one of a host of female figures who decide who will die in battle. Selecting among half of those who die in battle (the other half go to the goddess Freyja's ...

must reign"), derived from a phrase in

1 Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in Anc ...

15: 24–26. Bishop Alencastre was the first to include in his episcopal arms the ''

Pūloʻuloʻu Pūloʻuloʻu, often called "kapu sticks", are symbols denoting the kapu of Hawaiian aliʻi (chiefs or royals) and symbolizing the deceased ancestors of the aliʻi. They are traditional symbols of authority which are used in modern times includi ...

'' ('' kapu'' sticks)—traditional symbols of the Hawaiian people, and the colours of the Hawaiian flag. In keeping with the traditions of

ecclesiastical heraldry Ecclesiastical heraldry refers to the use of heraldry within Christianity for dioceses, organisations and Christian clergy. Initially used to mark documents, ecclesiastical heraldry evolved as a system for identifying people and dioceses. It i ...

, he utilized the green ''

galero A (plural: ; from , originally connoting a helmet made of skins; cf. '' galea'') is a broad-brimmed hat with tasselated strings which was worn by clergy in the Catholic Church. Over the centuries, the red ''galero'' was restricted to use by i ...

'', a hat reserved for

bishops A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

and cardinals, at the top of his arms.

Death and legacy

Alencastre Honolulu Catholic Cemetery Gravemarker

Alencastre died in 1940 on a boat ''en route'' to Hawai‘i from

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California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

—six days after his 64th birthday. He was subsequently interred at the

Honolulu Catholic Cemetery The Honolulu Catholic Cemetery (also known as the King Street Catholic Cemetery) is a cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii. The cemetery is for Roman Catholic church, Roman Catholics and is located at 839-A South King Street, . It is maintained by the Roman ...

downtown Honolulu Downtown Honolulu is the current historic, economic, and governmental center of Honolulu, the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is bounded by Nuuanu Stream to the west, Ward Avenue to the east, Vineyard Boulevard to the n ...

. Following his death, he was posthumously awarded the honor of "Officer of the Order of the Crown" by King

Leopold III of Belgium Leopold III (3 November 1901 – 25 September 1983) was King of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until his abdication on 16 July 1951. At the outbreak of World War II, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the Battle of Belgi ...

, while a street in Honolulu bears his surname. After continuing and completing much of the work begun by Alencastre and his Sacred Hearts predecessors, the mission area of the Hawaiian Islands was elevated to the status of the

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

a few months following his death. The history of the Catholic Sacred Hearts mission in the Hawaiian Islands was documented by one of the congregation's priests and later compiled and published in a book called ''Pioneers of the Faith''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alencastre, Stephen 1876 births 1940 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Roman Catholic missionaries in Hawaii Immigrants to the Hawaiian Kingdom Portuguese emigrants 20th-century Roman Catholic titular bishops Apostolic vicars of the Hawaiian Islands Burials at Honolulu Catholic Cemetery People from Porto Santo People who died at sea Picpus Fathers American people of Portuguese descent