Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia

{{Infobox diocese

| jurisdiction = Archdiocese

| name = Samoa-Apia

| latin = Archidioecesis Samoa-Apiana

| local = Puleaga Fa'aAkiepikopo Samoa-Apia

| image = Grand Cathedral (29937423534).jpg

| image_size = 250px

| image_alt =

| caption = Immaculate Conception Cathedral

| coat = File:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia.jpg

| coat_size = 150px

| coat_alt =

| coat_caption =

| country = Samoa

| province = Samoa-Apia

| deaneries =

| headquarters =

| coordinates =

| area_km2 = 2,922

| area_footnotes =

| population = 189,000

| population_as_of = 2010

| catholics = 42,500

| catholics_percent = 22.5

| parishes = 38

| churches =

| congregations =

| schools =

| members =

| denomination = Catholic

| sui_iuris_church = Latin Church

| rite = Roman Rite

| established = 20 August 1850 ({{age|1850|8|20}} years ago)

| cathedral = Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

| cocathedral =

| patron =

| priests =

| pope = {{incumbent pope}}

| bishop = Most Rev. Mosese Vitolio Tui

| bishop_title = Archbishop

| coadjutor =

| suffragans =

| auxiliary_bishops =

| apostolic_admin =

| vicar_general =

| episcopal_vicar =

| judicial_vicar =

| emeritus_bishops =

| map = Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia map.png

| map_size =

| map_alt =

| map_caption = Territory of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

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

History

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dsaap.html|title=Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia|publisher=Catholic-Hierarchy|accessdate=2013-05-21|last=|first=}}

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.samoaobserver.ws/category/samoa/103197 |title=Archbishop Mataeliga passes away |publisher=Samoa Observer |author=Sialai Sarafina Sanerivi |date=25 April 2023 |access-date=25 April 2023}}

Ordinaries

Image:Monseigneur Pierre BROYER.jpg

Guillaume Marie Douarre S.M. (1850-1853)
Pierre Bataillon, S.M.(1853–1870)
Aloys Elloy, S.M. (1870–1878)
Jean-Armand Lamaze, S.M. (1879–1896)
{{Interlanguage link multi|Pierre-Jean Broyer|fr}} S. M. (1896–1918)Biography about Mgr Pierre-Jean Broyer in the article dedicated to his birthplace on the French Wikipedia. :fr:Illiat
Joseph Darnand S. M. (1919–1953)
{{Interlanguage link multi|Jean Baptiste Dieter|de}} S. M. (1953–1955)
George Hamilton Pearce S. M. (1956–1967), appointed Archbishop of Suva, Fiji, Pacific (Oceania)
Pio Taofinu'u S. M. (1968–2002), elevated to Cardinal in 1973
Alapati Lui Mataeliga (2002–2023)
Mosese Vitolio Tui (2024-present)

Ecclesiastical province

: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.