Paul Eusebius Mea Kaiuea (16 December 1939 - 24 June 2021) was a Kiribati

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

prelate

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the Diocese of Tarawa and Nauru from 1978 to 2020. Mea was born in

Gilbert and Ellice Islands The Gilbert and Ellice Islands (GEIC as a colony) in the Pacific Ocean was part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. It was a British protectorate, protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a crown colony, colony until 1 January 1 ...

and was ordained in 1969 as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

of the

Missionaries of the Sacred Heart The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC; ; ) are a missionary congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1854 by Jules Chevalier at Issoudun, France, in the Diocese of Bourges. The motto of the Missionaries of the S ...

. He was then appointed as the parish priest of

North Tarawa North Tarawa () is the string of islets in the Kiribati, Republic of Kiribati, from Buariki (Tarawa), Buariki at the northern tip of Tarawa atoll to Buota in the South, with a combined population of 6,629 . It is administratively separate from ...

. His work brought him to the attention of

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Bishop

Pierre Guichet Pierre Auguste Antoine Marie Guichet, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, MSC, Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 21 January 1915, died 6 October 1989) was the Catholic Church, Catholic bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarawa and Nauru, Di ...

, and in 1978, Mea succeeded him as the diocese bishop when it encompassed all of

Gilbert Islands The Gilbert Islands (;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this name applied o ...

, soon independent

Kiribati Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, and more than half live on Tarawa. The st ...

Nauru Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba (part of ...

, and

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( ) is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands), northeast of Van ...

. In 1982, Tuvalu was removed from the jurisdiction of the diocese. In 2020, he became ''

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

'' after his resignation and was replaced by elected

Koru Tito Koru Tito (30 September 1960 – 7 August 2022) was an I-Kiribati priest of the Roman Catholic Church who was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Tarawa and Nauru on 29 June 2020 but was not consecrated a bishop before his death. Biography Tito ...

. Paul Mea died on June 24, 2021.G Catholic website
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External links

References

1939 births 2021 deaths People from the Gilbert Islands I-Kiribati Roman Catholic bishops 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Oceania 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Oceania I-Kiribati religious leaders Roman Catholic bishops of Tarawa and Nauru {{Oceania-RC-bishop-stub