Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia
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Archdiocese of Samoa–Apia Archidioecesis Samoa–Apiana Puleaga Fa'aAkiepikopo Samoa–Apia |
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| Location | |
| Country |  Independent State of Samoa |
| Territory |
Samoa
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| Ecclesiastical province | Samoa-Apia |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 2,922 km2 (1,128 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2010) 189,000 42,500 (22.5%) |
| Parishes | 38 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 20 August 1850 (166 years ago) |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Archbishop | Alapati Lui Mataeliga |
| Map | |
 Territory of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa–Apia |
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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa–Apia (Latin: Archidioecesis Samoa–Apiana; Samoan: Puleaga Fa'aAkiepikopo Samoa–Apia) consists of the Independent State of Samoa.
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.
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.
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