Gulstan Ropert

Gulstan Ropert (August 30, 1839 - January 4, 1903) of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary served as the third vicar apostolic of the Apostolic Vicariate of the Sandwich Islands — now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, from 1892 to 1903. Born in France at Kerfago, St. Gildas de Rhuys, Morbihan, in Brittany, he was baptized as François. François Ropert entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary at age 20 and took the name Gulstan. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 26, 1866, at the age of 26. He was sent to the Kingdom of Hawai`i to assist the Vicariate, arriving in Honolulu on June 9, 1868. He was in charge of the Hamakua district on the island of Hawai`i until October 2, 1883, when he was assigned to the Wailuku mission. He left Wailuku for Honolulu in 1891 having been appointed Vice-Provincial.

Brother Infirmarians at the Kalaupapa Settlement

Prior to his first ad limina visit to Rome in 1895, Msgr. Ropert appointed Father Cornelius Limburg as his pro-Vicar. He then left for France in the company of Father Hubert Stappers and a Portuguese youth, Peter Alencastre (later Bishop Stephen Alencastre) who was to begin his studies for the priesthood at Louvain in Belgium. During his voyage, Msgr. Ropert showed his devotion to the priests of his jurisdiction by paying a visit to each one's family - which caused him to journey through France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. He returned to Honolulu on November 16, 1895 accompanied by Father Pamphile deVeuster, the brother of the late Father Damien, one choir brother and four lay brothers, all destined for the Kalaupapa Settlement. According to arrangements made with the Board of Health, the brothers were given the care of the Bishop's Home for Boys in Kalaupapa. Father Pamphile followed in his brother's footsteps, but being an elderly, scholarly man at the time of his arrival, he could not get accustomed to the surroundings and returned to Belgium on August 25, 1897.

Related Topics:
''ad limina'' - Stephen Alencastre - Father Damien - Lay brother - Kalaupapa Settlement

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