Bachelot, however, was able to convert a small group of Hawaiians and quietly minister to them for four years before being deported in 1831 on the orders of Kaʻahumanu, the Kuhina Nui (a position similar to queen regent) of Hawaii.

In 1837, having learned of Queen Kaʻahumanu's death and King Kamehameha III's willingness to allow Catholic priests on the island, Bachelot returned to Hawaii, intending to continue his missionary work.

[2] In the early 1820s, Jean Baptiste Rives, a French adviser to the Hawaiian king Kamehameha II, traveled to Europe to attempt to convince European Catholics to organize a mission to Hawaii.

Members of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary were receptive to his idea,[3] and in 1825, Pope Leo XII assigned them the task of evangelizing Hawaii.

The missionaries were initially accompanied by a group that planned to explore commercial trading opportunities[3] but returned to France after reaching Mexico.

[8] On the advice of Hiram Bingham I—a Protestant missionary who had converted the Hawaiian royalty four years previously—Queen Kaʻahumanu took a hard stance against Catholicism.

[5] But, the group were favorably received by the high chief Boki,[4] the royal governor of Oahu, and his wife Kuini Liliha.

[4] For several months, Bachelot and his fellow missionaries lived in three small rented structures,[9] saying their first mass on the island in a grass hut.

[11] The priests' vestments and rituals made their evangelism efforts more effective because they reminded Hawaiians of native religious customs.

[9] Queen Kaʻahumanu persecuted Catholics from 1829 until her death in 1832, by, for example, forbidding Hawaiians from attending masses and instructing Bachelot not to proselytize.

[21] Though Queen Kaʻahumanu steadfastly opposed his work, Bachelot viewed her as a good person who had been deceived by Protestant missionaries.

Hawaii became part of the newly created Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Oceania, which was split into northern and southern divisions.

Etienne Jerome Rouchouze served as the Vicar Apostolic of Eastern Oceania and oversaw Bachelot's assignment in Hawaii.

[29] Queen Kaʻahumanu had died in 1832, and the following year King Kamehameha III began making radical changes to Hawaiian law.

[8] Columban Murphy, a Catholic lay brother from the United Kingdom, visited King Kamehameha III in 1835 and discussed the possibility of Bachelot's return.

[34] Their efforts to secure freedom for the priests to live on the island were unsuccessful[30] until the British naval vessel HMS Sulphur and the French frigate the La Vénus arrived in Honolulu[34] on 8 July.

[35] The ships were commanded respectively by Edward Belcher and Dupetit Thouars, who each tried to convince the authorities to allow the priests to return to the island.

King Kamehameha III agreed to allow the priests to stay in Honolulu until they could find a ship to transport them elsewhere, under the condition that they refrain from proselytizing.