The Catholic Church in

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

is part of the worldwide

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

under the leadership of its local bishop in communion with the

Bishop of Rome A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

. It is estimated that approximately 16% of the population of the Pacific island Kingdom are Catholic, being 15,767 in 2004.1
/sup> Bishop

Soane Patita Paini Mafi Soane Patita Paini Mafi () (born 19 December 1961) is the fourth Roman Catholic Bishop of Tonga. At the age of 53, on 14 February 2015, he was appointed by Pope Francis as the first ever cardinal from Tonga and he became on that date the younge ...

succeeded as Bishop of Tonga in 2008.

History

Prior to the arrival of European sailors and missionaries, the islands of Tonga practised an

animistic Animism (from Latin: ' meaning ' breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, ...

Polynesian religion. Responsibility for Oceania was given by the Catholic Church to the Society of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in 1825; but the territory was judged to be too large, and the western portion was formed into a vicariate Apostolic and given to the Society of Mary in 1836, with Mgr Jean Baptiste Pompallier (1807–1871) appointed

vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of Western Oceania. In 1842, the vicariate Apostolic of Central Oceania was created comprising New Caledonia, Tonga,

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

, and Fiji. A later subdivision, reduced the vicariate to include only Tonga, the

Wallis Islands Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands (; french: Wallis-et-Futuna or ', Fakauvea and Fakafutuna: '), is a French island collectivity in the South Pacific, situated between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fij ...

, Futuna, and Niué. In 1937 the Vicariate Apostolic of Tonga Islands was created and in 1957 it became the Vicariate Apostolic of Tonga Islands and Niue and in 1966 the region became the Diocese of Tonga. The conversion to Christianity of King

George Tupou I George Tupou I (4 December 1797 – 18 February 1893), originally known as Tāufaʻāhau I, was the first king of modern Tonga. He adopted the name Siaosi (originally Jiaoji), the Tongan equivalent of '' George'', after King George III of the ...

, who was the political architect of modern Tonga, had a great influence on the religious life of the Polynesian nation. Of note, the last of the

Tu'i Tonga Tu'i, also spelled more simplistically Tui, is a Polynesian traditional title for tribal chiefs or princes. In translations, the highest such positions are often rendered as "king". For details, see the links below various polities. Traditionally, ...

line of Tongan Kings was Catholic. This is cited as being the reason that Lapaha in Mu'a, the former capital of the Tu'i Tongan Empire, is Catholic in contrast to neighbouring Tatakamotonga, which is predominantly

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

. Tonga sent a delegation of young people for the first time to

World Youth Day 2008 World Youth Day 2008 was a Catholic youth festival that started on 15 July and continued until 20 July 2008 in Sydney, Australia. It was the first World Youth Day held in Australia and the first World Youth Day in Oceania. This meeting was deci ...

when it was held in Sydney, Australia. There is no official state religion in Tonga, but around 63% of Tongans are Christian, including around 48% Protestant and 15% Catholic. There is also 18% American Mormon sect. The constitution declared Sabbath a holy day and the law restricts activities on Sundays. The Catholic Church in Tonga has accepted and included

Tongan culture The Tongan archipelago has been inhabited for perhaps 3000 years, since settlement in late Lapita times. The culture of its inhabitants has surely changed greatly over this long time period. Before the arrival of European explorers in the late 17 ...

. As in other countries, the Catholic Church runs schooling and social services in Tonga. On 4 January 2015,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

announced his intention to appoint the present Bishop of Tonga

as a cardinal at a Papal consistory to be held on 14 February 2015.Christopher Lamb, "Red hats for a global Church", ''The Tablet'', 8 January 2014
(Retrieved 15 January 2015)

References

{{Oceania topic, Catholic Church in, groupstyle=background-color:gold, titlestyle=background-color:gold

History

See also

References