Octave Marie Terrienne (9 September 1902 – 4 March 1994) was a French Roman Catholic prelate and missionary of the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (M.S.C.). He served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati) from 1937 to 1961.
Early Life and Education
Born on 9 September 1902 in Bouvron, Loire-Inférieure (now Loire-Atlantique), France, to Roland Terrienne and Marie Rose Lemarié. He entered the minor seminary in 1917 and later the major seminary of Nantes in 1921. In 1924, after completing military service, he joined the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. After a year of novitiate in Marseille, he studied at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.
Ordination and Missionary Work
He was ordained a priest on 27 January 1929 by the Bishop of Fribourg. On 11 October 1929, he departed for Oceania, arriving in the Gilbert Islands (then a British colony) on 23 January 1930. He was placed in charge of the atoll of North Tabiteuea, the largest atoll in the archipelago, residing at the mission station of Tanaeang.
Episcopal Career
On 2 December 1937, Pope Pius XI appointed him Vicar Apostolic of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands and Titular Bishop of Menelaites. He was consecrated bishop on 25 June 1938 at Nantes Cathedral by Bishop Jean-Joseph-Léonce Villepelet. At age 35, he was then the youngest Roman Catholic bishop in the world.
After having built the largest church in the colony in 1936, Bishop Terrienne established the vicariate see at Tanaeang on North Tabiteuea, rather than at Ocean Island (the colonial headquarters) or Tarawa (the former capital), to which the see was transferred at the end of the 1950s.
World War II
During the Pacific War, the Gilbert Islands were occupied by Japanese forces. In December 1941, Japanese troops landed on Butaritari and Tarawa. In October 1942, Japanese forces massacred 22 Europeans and New Zealanders. Bishop Terrienne, along with Father Viallon and Brother Conrad, were spared but held prisoner for four months on Butaritari. In September 1943, as Allied forces began the reconquest, they were warned they were sought for execution by the Japanese and went into hiding. Four missionary stations were destroyed and four missionaries were killed during the war.
Later Career and Legacy
In 1951, Bishop Terrienne founded the indigenous Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, entrusted to Father Ernest Sabatier. He also oversaw the mission's acquisition of vessels (the San Teretia I, II, and III) for transportation between the scattered atolls.
He resigned as Vicar Apostolic on 28 February 1961 and was succeeded by Pierre Guichet. He subsequently retired to the Trappe of Frattochie in Rome (1961–1969), participated as a Council Father in all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council, and later served as chaplain to various religious communities in Cannes, France.
He died on 4 March 1994 in Marseille at age 91 and was buried in the cemetery of Château-Gombert.
