Herman Koeckemann

German bishop

The Most Reverend Bernard Hermann Koeckemann SS.CC.
Vicar Apostolic of Hawaiian Islands

Church	Roman Catholic
See	Titular Bishop of Olba
In office	1882-1892
Predecessor	Louis Maigret
Successor	Gulstan Ropert
Orders
Ordination	31 May 1862
Consecration	21 August 1881 by Joseph Sadoc Alemany
Rank	Bishop
Personal details
Born	(1828-01-10)January 10, 1828 Ostbevern, Germany
Died	February 22, 1892(1892-02-22) (aged 64)
Buried	Honolulu Catholic Cemetery
Nationality	German

Tombstone for Bishops Koeckemann and Boeynaems at the Honolulu Catholic Cemetery

Herman Koeckemann, formally Bernard Hermann Koeckemann, SS.CC., (January 10, 1828 – February 22, 1892), served as the second vicar apostolic of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands — now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu — from 1881 to 1892.

Biography

Born in Ostbevern, Westphalia, Germany,^[1] he was baptized as Bernard. At the age of 14, his father, a farmer, sent him to the Gymnasium of Münster. Koeckemann was an excellent student and excelled in classical studies. During his seven years of college, his progress in Latin, Greek, Hebrew and French and in philosophy and science was so well marked that at the graduation, his examiners dispensed with the oral examination as superfluous.

Believing himself called to religious life, he went to Leuven and entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. After a novitiate of eighteen months, he was admitted to religious profession on April 11, 1851, taking the name Herman. After three years of theologate, he was sent by his superiors to the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi for work as a missionary. He arrived in Honolulu on November 13, 1854, and was subsequently ordained to the priesthood as a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary on May 31, 1862, at the age of 34.

Koeckemann served as pastor to the fledgling Catholic community of native Hawaiians. When Msgr. Louis Maigret fell ill, Father Koeckemann was appointed coadjutor vicar apostolic to fulfill some of the bishop's regular duties. On August 21, 1881, Father Koeckemann was ordained at Saint Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco, California, as a bishop of the titular see of Olba at the age of 53, with a papal mandate to serve as coadjutor^[2] Vicar Apostolic with right of succession.

Upon Msgr. Maigret's death, Msgr. Koeckemann succeeded as vicar apostolic^[3] on June 11, 1882. During his episcopate, the massive migration of Portuguese workers for the sugarcane plantations from Madeira Islands and the Azores began. With the subsequent increase in population from these migrations, Msgr. Koeckemann made Catholic education a priority of the Vicariate and built many schools with the Marianist brothers.^[4]

He died in Honolulu in 1892 and was buried at the Honolulu Catholic Cemetery in downtown Honolulu.

Order of Kalākaua

King David Kalākaua bestowed on Herman the honor "Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Kalākaua" in 1881.^[5]

Sources

^ Francis J. Weber (1994). Catholic California Essays: Some Historical Reflections. Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Archives. p. 78.
^ Google Books, Hawaii's Religions, by John F. Mulholland
^ Catholic Hawai'i website, Most Reverend Larry Silva, Bishop of Honolulu, article published in the Hawaii Catholic Herald, Volume 68, No. 16, July 15, 2005
^ Catholic Hawai'i website, Most Reverend Larry Silva, Bishop of Honolulu, article published in the Hawaii Catholic Herald, Volume 68, No. 16, July 15, 2005
^ Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen, CHAPTER XV

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Louis Maigret	Vicar Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands 1882–1892	Succeeded by Gulstan Ropert

Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu

Ordinaries

Prefect Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands: Alexis Bachelot

Vicars Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands: Louis Désiré Maigret; Herman Koeckemann; Gulstan Ropert; Libert H. Boeynaems; Stephen Alencastre

Bishops of Honolulu: James Joseph Sweeney; John Joseph Scanlan; Joseph Anthony Ferrario; Francis X. DiLorenzo; Clarence Richard Silva

Churches

Cathedrals: Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace; Co-Cathedral of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus

Parishes: St. Mary Church, Hana; Sacred Heart Church-Punahou; Saint John the Baptist Chuch; Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Hawi; St. Joseph Church, Hilo; Holy Trinity Church, Honolulu; Our Lady of the Mount Church, Honolulu; St. Anthony Church, Honolulu; St. Augustine by the Sea Church, Honolulu; St. Patrick Church, Honolulu; Saints Peter and Paul Church, Honolulu; St. Michael the Archangel Church, Kailua-Kona; Star of the Sea Church, Kalapana; St. Ann Church, Kaneohe; St. Theresa Church, Kekaha; St. Raphael Church, Koloa; Our Lady Queen of Angels Church, Kula; Holy Ghost Church, Kula; Maria Lanakila Catholic Church, Lahaina; Immaculate Conception Church, Lihue; St. Joseph Church, Makawao; Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, Pearl City; Resurrection of the Lord Church, Waipahu; St. Benedict's Church, Honaunau