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 converted and then quietly ministered to a small group of Hawaiians 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. (
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