Rodgers was born in
Upper Hutt, New Zealand, on 9 October 1915. After receiving his secondary education at
St Patrick's College, Wellington and
St Patrick's College, Silverstream, he studied to be a Marist priest at
Mt St Mary's Seminary, Greenmeadows. He was professed in the
Society of Mary (Marists) in 1936 and was ordained a priest on 15 December 1940. A year later he went to
Tonga and was principal of 'Api Fo'ou College. In 1953 he was appointed
Vicar Apostolic of Tonga and was consecrated bishop in
St Mary of the Angels, Wellington. Rodgers attended Sessions 1, 3 and 4 of the
Vatican II Council. He became Bishop of Tonga when Tonga was created a diocese in 1966. He resigned the
see in 1972 to make way for an indigenous bishop Bishop Patrick Finau. He became
Bishop of Rarotonga in 1973. Among his achievements in the
Cook Islands, he founded
Nukutere College in 1975. After his resignation from that see, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Auckland to assist
Bishop John Mackey. In the
1979 New Year Honours, Rodgers was appointed a
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, for services as Roman Catholic bishop in Tonga and the Cook Islands. In 1985 he was appointed superior of the
Catholic mission of Funafuti, Tuvalu and Secretary of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific, but retired to Auckland in 1986 because of ill health. ==Death==