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The churches of St. Benedict, Star of the Sea and St. Theresa are the gems of the beautiful Big Island of Hawaii
St. Benedict Church in Captain Cook, Hawaii (photo: Marek Poplawski / Shutterstock)
Catholicism first came to the Big Island of Hawaii in the 1800s as Catholic missionaries came to preach the word of God to the island’s inhabitants. Remnants of those early days can be enjoyed by tourists today, particularly with a visit to the three “painted churches” of the island: St. Benedict, Star of the Sea and St. Theresa.
Catholic missionaries first arrived on the South Kona region of the Big Island (on the western shore) in 1842 and established St. Francis Regis Chapel on the shore of Honaunau. At the end of the 19th century a Sacred Hearts priest from Belgium, Father John Berchmans Velghe, arrived and re-named and re-located the church to its current location; most of the region’s villagers had moved two miles up the slopes of Mauna Loa, an active volcano and one of five on the island, in search of cooler temperatures and more fertile land.
Continued below.
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Catholicism first came to the Big Island of Hawaii in the 1800s as Catholic missionaries came to preach the word of God to the island’s inhabitants. Remnants of those early days can be enjoyed by tourists today, particularly with a visit to the three “painted churches” of the island: St. Benedict, Star of the Sea and St. Theresa.
St. Benedict Church
St. Benedict is the oldest of the three and can be found on the western shore of the island, between Kealakekua Bay, where the first European explorer to visit the island, Captain James Cook, was killed in 1779, and Pu’uhonua o Honaunau, a national park which was once a refuge for those who had broken the kapu, or sacred laws, and were under penalty of death could find refuge.Catholic missionaries first arrived on the South Kona region of the Big Island (on the western shore) in 1842 and established St. Francis Regis Chapel on the shore of Honaunau. At the end of the 19th century a Sacred Hearts priest from Belgium, Father John Berchmans Velghe, arrived and re-named and re-located the church to its current location; most of the region’s villagers had moved two miles up the slopes of Mauna Loa, an active volcano and one of five on the island, in search of cooler temperatures and more fertile land.
Continued below.
The 3 Painted Churches of Hawaii
The churches of St. Benedict, Star of the Sea and St. Theresa are the gems of the beautiful Big Island of Hawaii
