Estevão Pedro de Alencastre (1876-1940) – A Child from Porto Santo Island who Became Bishop of Hawaii

Abstract

The Madeira Archipelago, throughout the 19^th century, faced social and economic adversities that dictated radical transformations in the islands’ way of life and that of their populations. The islands’ economic prosperity, sustained by the wine industry and trade, suffered a tremendous blow when the vineyards were attacked by diseases such as oidium (1852) and phylloxera (1872), which devastated the agricultural fields and left the population in a state of extreme poverty. To escape hunger and certain death on barren land, emigration emerged as the possible salvation for entire families. This was the case for the family of Estevão Pedro de Alencastre (1876-1940) who, among many others, left the island of Porto Santo and headed for Hawaii, hoping for a better life. This article is dedicated to this figure, who left his island at only six years old and became the Bishop of Hawaii in 1924. The role he played in the Hawaiian diocese and in the lives of the population contributed to the development of the islands and earned him the nickname The Builder. He erected schools and churches on all the islands, prioritized the education and training of the youth, and endeavored to increase the missionary body in that archipelago where the Catholic religion was growing every day. The Portuguese community, especially those from Madeira, has never forgotten this unique figure in the history of Hawaii.

Keywords: Porto Santo; Madeira; Emigration, Hawaii; Bishop; Estevão Pedro de Alencastre.