Michel-Gaspard Coppenrath
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His Excellency Michel-Gaspard Coppenrath |
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| Archbishop of Papeete | |
| Installed | 5 March 1973 |
| Term ended | 4 June 1999 |
| Predecessor | Paul-Laurent-Jean-Louis Mazé |
| Successor | Hubert Coppenrath |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Michel-Gaspard Coppenrath |
| Born | 4 June 1924 Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
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| Died | 16 August 2008 (aged 84) French Polynesia
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Monsignor Michel-Gaspard Coppenrath (4 June 1924 – 16 August 2008) was the Tahitian Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Papeete in French Polynesia for 26 years from 1973 until 1999. Coppenrath continued to serve as the Archbishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Papeete from his 1999 until his death in 2008. Coppenrath was the first Tahitian-born Catholic bishop of French Polynesia.
Michel-Gaspard Coppenrath was born in Papeete, Tahiti and was a demi, of half-Tahitian descent. He later moved to France, where he served as a member of the French Resistance against Nazi occupation during World War II before joining the priesthood. Coppenrath was formally ordained as a Catholic priest in Poitiers, France, on 29 June 1954, when he was thirty years old. He was the first ordained priest of indigenous Polynesian descent in French Polynesia since Tiripone Mama Taira Putairi in 1874. He further obtained both a degree in civil law as well as a doctorate in Canon law.
Coppenrath initially became a Vicar in Papeete due to his doctorate in Canon law. However, he was soon appointed as a parish priest in Pirae, a commune located along the northern coast of Tahiti. Coppenrath worked with local youth movements, as well as the media, while assigned to Pirae.
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