Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia (Latin: Archidioecesis Samoa-Apiana; Samoan: Puleaga Fa'aAkiepikopo Samoa-Apia) consists of the Independent State of Samoa.

Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia

Archidioecesis Samoa-Apiana

Puleaga Fa'aAkiepikopo Samoa-Apia
Immaculate Conception Cathedral
Location
CountrySamoa
Ecclesiastical provinceSamoa-Apia
Statistics
Area2,922 km2 (1,128 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2010)
189,000
42,500 (22.5%)
Parishes38
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
Established20 August 1850 (174 years ago)
CathedralCathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
ArchbishopMost Rev. Mosese Vitolio Tui
Map
Territory of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia
Territory of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia

History

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In 1842, the Propaganda Fide created the Apostolic Vicariate of Central Oceania that included New Caledonia, Tonga, Samoa and Fiji Islands. This lost territory with establishment by canonical erection by the Holy See on August 20, 1850, of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Navigators' Archipelago, entrusted to the Society of Mary (Marists). On January 4, 1957, the Vatican changed the name of the Vicariate Apostolic to Samoa and the Tokelau Islands.

The vicariate apostolic was elevated to the Diocese of Apia on June 21, 1966, and made suffragan to the metropolitan see of Suva, Fiji. On August 10, 1974, the name of the diocese was changed to Diocese of Apia o Samoa and Tokelau; and it was changed again on December 3, 1975, to the Diocese of Samoa and Tokelau.

On September 10, 1982, the diocese was elevated to the dignity of an archdiocese taking the name of the See city, Apia. Simultaneously, the Diocese of Samoa–Pago Pago was created from a portion of the former Diocese of Samoa Tokelau and made suffragan to the metropolitan see of Apia.[1]

On 24 April 2023, Archbishop Alapati Lui Mataeliga was airlifted to Auckland Hospital, in New Zealand and died in the early hours of the following morning.[2]

Ordinaries

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Monseigneur Pierre-Jean Broyer

Ecclesiastical province

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See: Ecclesiastical Province of Samoa-Apia.

As the metropolitan see, the archdiocese has two suffragans: the Diocese of Samoa–Pago Pago and the Mission Sui Iuris of Tokelau. Until March 2003, the Mission Sui Iuris of Funafuti was also a suffragan, but since that date it is now a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Suva.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 2013-05-21.
  2. ^ Sialai Sarafina Sanerivi (25 April 2023). "Archbishop Mataeliga passes away". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  3. ^ Biography about Mgr Pierre-Jean Broyer in the article dedicated to his birthplace on the French Wikipedia. fr:Illiat

Further reading

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  • Galuega O Le Sinoti (Acts of the Snyod [of the Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia]), December 7–14, 1990, promulgated, May 1, 1991, Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. Apia, Samoa.
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13°49′56″S 171°45′58″W / 13.8321°S 171.7660°W / -13.8321; -171.7660