Libert H. Boeynaems
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Libert H. Boeynaems, formally Libert Hubert John Louis Boeynaems (August 18, 1857-May 13, 1926), was the fourth vicar apostolic of the Apostolic Vicariate of the Sandwich Islands — now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu. Born in Antwerp, Belgium on August 18, 1857, the son of John and Leopoldina (Van Opstal) Boeynaems. He was educated at the Jesuit college of Antwerp and the Seminary at Mechlin and finished his scholasticate at the University of Louvain. Boeynaems was ordained to the priesthood as a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary on September 11, 1881. As part of his missionary work, Boeynaems sailed to the Kingdom of Hawaii arriving in Honolulu on November 29, 1881, to become a pastor (in January 1882) to the fledgeling Catholic community of native Hawaiians on the island of Kaua`i in the district encompassing Lihu`e to Hanalei. He later ministered to those on Kaua`i in the district encompassing Lihu`e to Mana. During his first few years in Honolulu, Hawaii, Boeynaems was a witness to the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, proclamation of the Republic of Hawaii and establishment of the United States Territory of Hawaii. In 1895 he was transferred to Wailuku, Maui. In December, 1902, the Holy See appointed him Pro-Vicar. On April 8, 1903, he was appointed Vicar Apostolic and was subsequently consecrated titular Bishop of Zeugma in Syria by Archbishop Montgomery in Saint Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco on July 25, 1903. When he died, he was buried at the Honolulu Catholic Cemetery in downtown Honolulu near Thomas Square at the intersection of Ward Avenue and King Street.