The Immaculate Conception Cathedral (also called Cathedral of Apia or Mulivai Cathedral) is the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. The Apia Urban A ...

, the capital of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

, an insular country in Oceania. It suffered damage in the earthquake of 2009, and has undergone restoration and extension. The congregation follows the Roman or Latin rite and is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Samoa–Apia (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Archidioecesis Samoa–Apiana''; Samoan: ''Fa'aAkiepikopo Samoa–Apia''), which was created in 1966 by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

through the bull "Prophetarum voes". After three years of repairs, the new cathedral of Apia was opened to the public on 2 June 2014 in the presence of Archbishop Martin Krebs, the apostolic nuncio in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The church was rebuilt on the site of the original cathedral, which dated from 1857.

History

In 1852, William Pritchard sold a plot of land in Mulivai, about three-quarters of an acre (or 3000 m²), to Bishop Bataillon, onto which Bataillon's brother, Jacques, began building a church and a parish house. The first stone was blessed by the bishop on 8 December 1852, but work was interrupted by epidemics and a

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

in 1854, which destroyed eight ships and caused great damage to the plantations, resulting in problems with the

food supply Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Similarly, househo ...

. As a result, the church was completed in 1857. The church stood in the same place as the current one, while the residence was near Mulivai.

References

{{Coord, 13, 49, 55.9, S, 171, 45, 59.49, W, display=title Roman Catholic churches completed in 2014 Buildings and structures in Apia Roman Catholic churches in Samoa Roman Catholic cathedrals in Oceania

History

See also

References