Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands, is a French island collectivity in the South Pacific, situated between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast, Samoa to the east, and Tokelau to the northeast.
Peter Louis Marie Chanel, SM, was a Catholic priest, missionary, and martyr. Chanel was a member of the Society of Mary and was sent as a missionary to Oceania. He arrived on the island of Futuna in November 1837. Chanel was clubbed to death in April 1841 at the instigation of a chief upset because his son converted.
Wallis is a Polynesian atoll/island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the French overseas collectivity of Wallis and Futuna. It lies north of Tonga, northeast of Fiji, east-northeast of the Hoorn Islands, east of Fiji's Rotuma, southeast of Tuvalu, southwest of Tokelau and west of Samoa. Its area is almost 100 km2 (39 sq mi) with 8,333 people. Its capital is Mata Utu. Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion. Its highest point is Mount Lulu Fakahega. Wallis is of volcanic origin with fertile soil and some remaining lakes. Rainfall is plentiful.
Wallisian, or ʻUvean, is the Polynesian language spoken on Wallis Island. The language is also known as East Uvean to distinguish it from the related West Uvean language spoken on the outlier island of Ouvéa near New Caledonia. The latter island was colonised from Wallis Island in the 18th century.
Jean-Baptiste François Pompallier was the first Roman Catholic bishop in New Zealand and, with priests and brothers of the Marist order, he organised the Roman Catholic Church throughout the country. He was born in Lyon, France. He arrived in New Zealand in 1838 as Vicar Apostolic of Western Oceania, but made New Zealand the Headquarters of His Catholic Mission.
The Vicariate Apostolic of Eastern Oceania was a Roman Catholic missionary jurisdiction for some of the South Sea (Pacific) islands from 1833 till 1848.
The Vicariate Apostolic of Central Oceania was a Roman Catholic missionary jurisdiction in the Southern Pacific.
Philippe Joseph Viard was a French priest and the first Bishop of the Catholic diocese of Wellington, New Zealand.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington is the metropolitan archdiocese of New Zealand. Catholics number about 83,214. Parishes number 22 and the archdiocese extends over central New Zealand between Levin and Masterton in the north to Kaikoura to Westport in the south.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wallis et Futuna in Wallis and Futuna is a suffragan diocese of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nouméa. It was erected as a Vicariate Apostolic in 1935 and elevated to a diocese in 1966. The Bishop of Wallis et Futuna is a member of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific.
Laurent Lolesio Fuahea was the Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Wallis et Futuna from 1974 until 2005. Fuahea was born in Hihifo, Wallis and became the bishop in the Roman Catholic Church on 16 July 1972. He was ordained a priest in 1957 and succeeded Michel-Maurice-Augustin-Marie Darmancier as bishop of Wallis and Futuna on 25 April 1974. He was succeeded by Ghislain Marie Raoul Suzanne de Rasilly.
Leone Mulikiha'amea Matekitoga or Manikitoga was a king of Uvea, ruling from 16 March 1941 until 16 March 1947. He was preceded by Mikaele Tufele II, and succeeded by Pelenato Fuluhea.
Ghislain Marie Raoul Suzanne de Rasilly is a Catholic prelate and the Bishop Emeritus of Wallis et Futuna since 24 December 2018.
The Catholic Church in Wallis and Futuna is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, which, inspired by the life, death and teachings of Jesus Christ, and under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and Roman curia in the Vatican City is the largest Christian church in the world. The French who were the first Europeans to settle in the territory, with the arrival of missionaries in 1837, who converted the population to Catholicism. Today, the population of the Pacific island French territory is overwhelmingly Catholic. Bishop Ghislain Marie Raoul Suzanne de Rasilly, S.M., was ordained Bishop of Wallis et Futuna in 2005.
The Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church that includes the bishops of several islands in Oceania. The CEPAC is a member of the Federation of Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Oceania, FCBCO.
Soakimi Gatafahefa, also known as simply Soakimi Gata, a Polynesian transliteration of Joachim Gata, was the first Roman Catholic priest from Polynesia. He worked in several Oceanic countries including Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Wallis and Futuna, and later Australia and New Zealand.
Susitino Sionepoe, S.M. is a Futunan Catholic prelate and the current Bishop of Wallis et Futuna. He was consecrated on March 24, 2019, by Archbishop Michel-Marie-Bernard Calvet in Mata'Utu, the Capital of Wallis and Futuna. His appointment as bishop was the result of the resignation of the previous bishop on 24 December 2018. He is a member of the Marists.
Michel-Maurice-Augustin-Marie Darmancier was a French clergyman and bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wallis et Futuna. He was appointed bishop in 1961. He died in 1984.
The Second World War in Wallis and Futuna was a period of significant upheaval for this French protectorate territory in the Pacific.
