{{Short description|None}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}} {{Catholic Church by country}} The '''Catholic Church in Fiji''' is part of the worldwide [[Catholic Church]], under the canonical authority and spiritual leadership of the [[Pope]] of [[Rome]].

== Latin hierarchy == [[Archdiocese of Suva]], covers the whole country and has two [[suffragan]] dioceses outside the country. They are:<ref>[http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/country/FJ.htm GCatholic website]</ref> * [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rarotonga|Diocese of Rarotonga]]: For Catholics in the [[Cook Islands]] and [[Niue]] Islands, which are associated countries of [[New Zealand]] * [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarawa and Nauru|Diocese of Tarawa and Nauru:]] It has its base at Tarawa on [[Kiribati]] island, and covers Catholics in that island and also those in [[Nauru]] republic.

They all partake in the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (C.E. PAC), which is part of the broader Federation of Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO) ). As most of these countries do not have more than a single bishop, they do not warrant a national [[Episcopal conference]]s.

Archdiocese of Suva has a history dating back to 1863 when the Vatican created the Prefecture Apostolic of Fiji Island from the Vicariate Apostolic of Central Oceania. It was made Vicariate Apostolic of Fiji Island in 1887. The Vicariate became the Archdiocese of Suva in 1966.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dsuva.html#details | title=Suva (Archdiocese) &#91;Catholic-Hierarchy&#93; }}</ref>

There is formally an [[Apostolic Nunciature]] (papal diplomatic representation, embassy level) to the Fiji Islands but it is vested (as with many South Sea states) in the Apostolic Nunciature in the [[New Zealand]] capital, [[Wellington]].

==History== Missions of the [[Society of Mary (Marists)|Marist Fathers]] were begun in the [[Lau Islands]] in 1844 and then in [[Levuka]] but were initially unsuccessful. A more successful mission began in Levuka in 1861.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://levuka.wordpress.com/2008/01/13/1844the-catholic-church-mission-in-fiji-started-in-lau-in-1844-with-the-arrival-of-bishop-bataillon/ |title=1844:The Catholic Church mission in Fiji started in Lau in 1844 with the arrival of Bishop Bataillon |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2008 |website=Levuka History and Timeline |access-date=12 July 2020}}</ref> Many churches were built by Bishop [[Julien Vidal]] around 1900.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sjcawaci.school.fj/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=99&Itemid=130 |title=Bishop Julien Vidal sm [1846-1922] |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2009 |website=St John's College, Cawaci |access-date=12 July 2020}}</ref> Relations with [[Methodist]] missionaries were competitive, with [[Cardinal Moran]] in [[Sydney]] debating Protestant speakers on mutual allegations of wrongdoing in Fiji.<ref>{{cite book |last=Laracy |first=Hugh |date=2013 |title=Watriama and Co: Further Pacific Islands Portraits |publisher=ANU Press |pages=53–68 |chapter=Chapter 3: Insular Eminence: Cardinal Moran (1830-1911) and the Pacific Islands |chapter-url=http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p260041/pdf/ch033.pdf |isbn=978-1-921666-33-9}}</ref> Australian Methodists protested against the appointment of a Catholic, [[Henry Jackson (colonial administrator)|Henry Jackson]], as [[Governor of Fiji]] in 1902, provoking counter-protests in Fiji.<ref>{{cite news |date=7 May 1903 |title=The Governor of Fiji: Indignation meeting in Levuka |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZT19030507.2.8 |work=New Zealand Tablet |access-date=25 June 2022}}</ref>

[[Caritas Fiji]] is the social arm of the Catholic Church.<ref name=FijiVillage21>{{cite web |url= https://www.fijivillage.com/news/Caritas-Fiji-provides-assistance-to-people-in-Suva-Nadi-and-Lautoka--8fxr45/ |title= Caritas Fiji provides assistance to people in Suva, Nadi and Lautoka |date= 27 June 2021 |website= [[Fiji Village]] |author= Navitalai Naivalurua |access-date= 18 June 2025}}</ref>

==Sex abuse scandal== On 13 July 2020, New Zealand's 1News revealed that a year long investigation found that the Catholic Church in Fiji had at least 1,300 allegations of sexual abuse against children.<ref name=fijisexabuse>{{cite news|url=https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/uncovering-abuse|title=Uncovering child sexual abuse in Fiji's public schools|publisher=1News|date=13 July 2020|access-date=14 July 2020}}</ref> 1News Pacific Correspondent Barbara Dreaver, who was in Fiji just before the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Fiji|national lockdown]], spoke with some of the victims of the alleged abuse.<ref name=fijisexabuse /> Many of these allegations also involved Catholic schools in Fiji.<ref name=fijisexabuse /> Some of the accused clergy were also originally from Australia and New Zealand before they were transferred to Fiji as well.<ref name=fijisexabuse /> Dr Murray Heasley from the Network of Survivors in Faith Based Institution also stated to 1News that Fiji was common place for the New Zealand Catholic Church to transfer accused Catholic clergy.<ref name=fijisexabuse /> Despite Archbishop Peter Loy Chong's claim that there had been no reported cases of clergy abusing children in Fiji, Australian priest Julian Fox, who was later convicted and jailed in 2015 for child sex crimes, was transferred to Fiji in 1999 after Australian police started an investigation against him.<ref name=fijisexabuse /> It was also confirmed that the church also had knowledge of sex abuse allegations against Fox nine years before he was charged.<ref name=fijisexabuse /> It goes back to the late 1900s when the allegation of sexual abuse took place in New Zealand which the suspects were sent into the Pacific without police clearance at that time.

== Demographics == In 2023, there were approximately 83,000 Catholics in Fiji, making up 9.1% of the total population.<ref>[https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/fiji/ US State Dept 2022 report]</ref> The 1996 census revealed just over 75 percent of Catholics to be [[Fijians|indigenous Fijians]] and 5 percent [[Indians in Fiji|Indo-Fijians]], with minority communities making up the balance. The present leader of the Catholic Church in Fiji is [[Archbishop]] [[Peter Loy Chong]].<ref>[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dsuva.html Archdiocese of Suva, Catholic Hierarchy] (Retrieved 5 March 2014)</ref>

== See also == *[[Religion in Fiji]] *[[Vicariate Apostolic of Fiji]] *[[List of Catholic dioceses in South Pacific Conference states]] *[[Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma]] *[[Hinduism in Fiji]]

== References == {{Reflist}}

== Sources and external links == * [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/country/FJ.htm GCatholic - Fiji - data for all sections] * [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dsuva.html Catholic Hierarchy - Archdiocese of Suva]

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catholic Church in Fiji}} [[Category:Catholic Church in Fiji| ]] [[Category:Catholic Church in Oceania|Fiji]] [[Category:Catholic Church by country|Fiji]]