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The Samoan Islands were first settled some 3,500 years ago as part of the Austronesian expansion. Both Samoa's early history and its more recent history are strongly connected to the histories of Tonga and Fiji, nearby islands with which Samoa has long had genealogical links as well as shared cultural traditions.
Apia is the capital of Samoa, and its only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (itūmālō) of Tuamasaga.
Tupua Tamasese Mea'ole was a Western Samoan paramount chief. He held the royal title of Tupua Tamasese from 1929 to 1963, and O le Ao o le Malo jointly with Malietoa Tanumafili II from 1962 until his death the following year.
The Society of Mary (Marists), commonly known as simply the Marist Fathers, is an international Roman Catholic religious congregation, founded by Father Jean-Claude Colin and a group of other seminarians in Lyon, France, in 1816. The society's name derives from the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom the members attempt to imitate in their spirituality and daily work.
The Northern Solomons were the more northerly group of islands in the Solomon Islands archipelago over which Germany declared a protectorate in 1885. Initially the German Solomon Islands Protectorate included in the south-east Choiseul, Santa Isabel and the Shortlands with highly northern, vast, mainly water Ontong Java Atoll that in 1900 were conferred to the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. Greatest of the region, Bougainville, continued under German administration until World War I when it fell to Australia, and after the war, it formally passed to Australian jurisdiction under a League of Nations mandate.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa–Apia consists of the Independent State of Samoa.
The Most Reverend George Hamilton Pearce, SM, DD was the first Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Apia, Samoa, and the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Suva, Fiji.
Msgr. Joseph Darnand, S.M., D.D., Vicar Apostolic of the Navigators' Archipelago, was born in Beny, Ain, France on December 31, 1879. He professed the evangelical counsels on December 20, 1903 for the Society of Mary (Marists). He was subsequently ordained to the presbyterate for the Marists on July 16, 1905. He was consecrated to the episcopate by Archbishop Thomas O'Shea of Wellington, New Zealand as successor to Msgr. Broyer and as Titular Bishop of Polemonium and Vicar Apostolic of the Navigators' Archipelago on May 16, 1920. In 1945 Msgr. Darnand observed the centennial of the arrival of the Marists in Samoa; the government of France honored his ministry and awarded him membership in the Legion of Honor. He retired from active ministry on November 23, 1953 and remained at Moamoa. He died on June 1, 1962.
Pio Taofinuʻu, S.M. was a Roman Catholic cardinal and Archbishop of Samoa-Apia. Born in the village of Falealupo on the island of Savai'i in Samoa, he was the first Polynesian bishop and cardinal. He was made a Cardinal by Pope Paul VI in the Consistory of 5 March 1973, of the Title of St. Onofrio. His father was Taofinuʻu Solomona and his mother, Mau.
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 Fiji was a Roman Catholic missionary jurisdiction comprising the islands belonging to the Fiji archipelago till 1966.
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The Catholic Church in Samoa is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, which, initiated by the life, death and resurrection 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. Catholic missionaries arrived in Samoa in 1845 and today Catholics account for around 20% of the overall population. Archbishop Alapati Lui Mataeliga was ordained as head of the Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia in 2003.
Tuaalagi Lepupa is a Samoan rugby football international who has represented Samoa in both rugby league and rugby sevens, most notably at the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Lepupa plays as a hooker or lock.
Sila Vaifale is a former Samoan rugby union player. He made his international debut for Samoa against Romania in Bucharest on October 14, 1989. Vaifale made his last appearance for Samoa against Fiji in Apia on July 5, 1997.
Su'a Peter Schuster is a Samoan former rugby union player. He played as a flyhalf. He was the Samoa Rugby Union chairman between 2007 and 2012.
Kalolo Toleafoa is a Samoan rugby union player. He plays as a flanker.
Frank Clemens Frederick Nelson was a Western Samoan politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly and as Minister of Works, Transport, Marine and Civil Aviation from 1957 until his death.
References
Galuega O Le Sinoti (Acts of the Snyod of the Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia), 7–14 December 1990, promulgated 1 May 1991, Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. Apia, Samoa.
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