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Air Tahiti Magazine 54
father laval: dictator or savior? during the 19th century one man reigned over the lost and isolated gambier archipelago in the south pacific. this man was father honore laval, a french priest sent to oceana to end paganism in the region. uncompromising and relentless, he would eventually convert the entire population of the gambier and make this archipelago the cradle of catholicism in polynesia. consumed by his faith, he attempted to control every aspect of the lives of "his christians" in a dream to create paradise on earth. as a result, a true theocracy was formed in the shadows of the hundreds of religious edifices he constructed. impassioned by the traditional culture that he was there to battle, he would ironically be the a savior of it. . . the story of this crazy spiritual enterprise is a like an epic novel that follows a man who is as fascinating as he is offensive. © gravure provenant des annales de l ordre de picpus r e v u e d e b o r d n ° 5 4 / a i r ta h i t i / o n - b o a r d m a g a z i n e n ° 5 4 21
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