The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia consists of the Independent State of Samoa. The origins of the archdiocese stem from the August 20, 1850, canonical erection by the Holy See

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Navigators' Archipelago, entrusted to the Society of Mary (Marists)

Society of Mary (Marists)

The Society of Mary , is a Roman Catholic religious congregation or order, founded by Father Jean-Claude Colin and a group of other seminarians in France in 1816...

. On January 4, 1957, the Vatican changed the name of the Vicariate Apostolic to Samoa and the Tokelau Islands. On June 21, 1966, the vicariate apostolic was elevated to the Diocese of Apia, 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. On December 3, 1975, the name of the diocese was changed to Diocese of Samoa and Tokelau. On September 10, 1982, the diocese was elevated to the dignity of archdiocese taking the name of the See city, Apia. Simultaneously, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Samoa-Pago Pago

Roman Catholic Diocese of Samoa-Pago Pago

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Samoa-Pago Pago is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States overseas dependency of American Samoa. It was canonically erected on September 10, 1982, taking territory from what once was a unified Diocese of Samoa and Tokelau...

was created from a portion of the former Diocese of Samoa Tokelau and made suffragan to the metropolitan see of Apia.