St. Michael the Archangel Church (Kailua-Kona, Hawaii)

On June 17, 1839, Kamehameha III declared religious freedom in the Kingdom in the Edict of Toleration.

A mission named after Saint Michael the Archangel was founded in 1840, the first Catholic Church on the island.

Governor John Adams Kuakini gave the land South of Mokuʻaikaua Church to the Catholic mission in 1841.

In 1940 Father Benno Evers constructed a grotto of coral from Kailua Bay over the site of the original well.

The main church building was forced to close on September 24, 2007, due to lingering damage from the earthquake in the area almost a year prior, on October 15, 2006.