He was ordained as a priest in 1849. In 1854 he was sent to evangelize in
Oceania, arriving in
Tahiti in July 1854, and
Marquesas on October 8, before being sent to the
Tuamotus, and
Mangareva in the
Gambier Islands. He was removed from his post in Mangareva because of his "strident pronouncements", and in 1866 was appointed to lead a new mission to
Easter Island (Rapa Nui), with
Eugène Eyraud. In 1871, after conflict with the manager of the Brander plantation,
Jean-Baptiste Dutrou-Bornier, who then began to persecute those faithful to the mission, he was forced to leave Easter Island on the orders of
Bishop Florentin-Étienne Jaussen, and took 168 islanders with him, leaving only 230
Rapanui on the island. ==References==