A member of the
Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, he was appointed by the
Holy See Vicar Apostolic and
Titular Bishop of
Nilopolis from 1833 to 1843 of the
Vicariate Apostolic of Oriental Oceania, from which were derived the
Archdiocese of Papeete, the
Diocese of Honolulu and the
Diocese of Taiohae or Tefenuaenata in the
Marquesas Islands. As a missionary bishop, Msgr. Rouchouze resided in
Valparaíso, Chile and in Honolulu; he was responsible for the evangelization efforts of the Picpus Fathers in the
Hawaiian Islands and eastern Pacific. His motto was
Per aspera in astera (from hardship to the stars). Prior to his episcopal ministry, Pope Gregory XVI, on 27 November 1825, created the
Prefecture Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands. Father
Alexis Bachelot was subsequently appointed its first prefect on 3 December 1825. Msgr. Rouchouze was appointed
Vicar Apostolic of Eastern Oceania and Titular Bishop of
Nilopolis on 14 June 1833 with ordinary jurisdiction over the Hawai‘i prefecture apostolic. He was subsequently consecrated to the episcopate in Rome, on 22 December 1833 by the Prefect of the
Propaganda Fide, Cardinal Carlo Maria Pedicini. On 29 June 1834, in
Golden Square in London, Msgr. Rouchouze served as principal co-consecrator in the episcopal ordination of Msgr.
John Bede Polding, O.S.B., Titular Bishop of
Hierocaesarea and Vicar Apostolic elect of
New Holland. Rouchouze left
Le Havre on 29 October 1834 and arrived in
Valparaíso,
Chile on 19 February 1835. After staying a few months, he went on to
Mangareva in the
Gambier Islands on 9 May 1835. He baptized the island's king
Maputeoa and his family on 25 August 1836. On 4 April 1839, Msgr. Rouchouze returned to blessed the first stone for the
St. Michael's Cathedral, Rikitea in Mangareva. He said the first pontifical Mass in the
Marquesas at
Tahuata on 6 February 1839. He arrived in
Honolulu on 14 May 1840. On 8 December 1842 the ship
Marie-Joseph was blessed in
Saint Malo in
Brittany. Shortly thereafter, Msgr. Rouchouze, accompanied by six priests, one sub-deacon, seven lays brothers and ten sisters, left Saint Malo for Oceania on the
Marie-Joseph. Sister Caliste Le Gris died at sea. Unwilling to bury her at sea, they put into
Island of Saint Catherine near
Florianópolis in
Brazil and buried her there. On 19 February 1843 Rouchouze and his remaining missionaries left the island. Evaristo, a
Mangarevan youth, fell ill and also died while they were in Brazil. The ship was last sited off the Falkland Islands on 13 March 1843. Rouchouze and his companions were never seen again and were presumed to have perished at sea. == See also ==