Archbishop Emeritus Coppenrath Dies In Papeete

Monsignor Michel Coppenrath, the Roman Catholic Church's archbishop emeritus of the Papeete Archdiocese, died Saturday night of a ruptured aneurysm, the archdiocese announced Sunday in a media communiqué. He was 84 years old.

As messages of condolences and respect began to arrive at the archdiocese on Sunday, plans were announced for a wake and funeral and burial services.

A wake began at 7 p.m. Sunday following the evening mass at the Maria no te Hau Church in Papeete's Mission neighborhood.

Funeral and burial services were held on Monday at 3 p.m.

Among the first to send messages of condolences were the Maohi Protestant Church and French High Commissioner Adolphe Colrat.

Mgr. Coppenrath earned a respected reputation among Tahiti's religious and political leaders as someone to listen to, particularly during the political and social crises that occurred during the 26 years he served as archbishop from 1973 to 1999.

When Mgr. Coppenrath retired from active duty in 1999, the Roman Catholic Church in Rome appointed his brother, Hubert Coppenrath, as Papeete's third archbishop on June 4, 1999. That was considered a rare event for the church, the passing on of such an important post to a brother.

French High Commissioner Colrat's message of condolence Sunday praised Mgr. Coppenrath as "a great builder of the (Catholic) Church, particularly concerned with training (French) Polynesian priests. He leaves the lasting memory of a man profoundly good and warm whose great courtesy was only equaled by the firmness of his beliefs.

"Open and available, he was a craftsman of ecumenical dialog," Colrat said, adding that the former archbishop also was "a man of unity, reconciliation, progress and peace."

The Rev. Taaroanui Maraea, president of the Maohi Protestant Church, issued a message Sunday that noted Mgr. Coppenrath's "compassion and his brotherly love."

The Maohi Protestant Church "hasn't forgotten the ecumenical work he undertook, opening the possibilities of encounter and recognition between the two churches."

Michel-Gaspard Coppenrath was born in June 1924 in Papeete. He became a Catholic priest at the ago of 30 in Poitiers, France. With a civil law degree and doctorate degree in canon law, he went from vicar in Papeete to priest in Tahiti's north coast Commune of Pirae, dealing particularly with the media and youth movements.

He became vicar-general to Mgr. Paul Mazé in 1966, and then was appointed archbishop of the Catholic Church's Titular See Tigisi in Numidia on Feb. 16, 1968, a post he held until March 5, 1973, when he was appointed archbishop of Papeete.
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