It was erected as the Vicariate Apostolic of Gilbert Islands in 1897, with see in Tanaeang (on Tabiteuea) from 1936 to the end of 1950s,[1] and later elevated to as the Diocese of Tarawa in 1966.

Bingham and his wife translated the Bible into Gilbertese, wrote school books, and authored a major dictionary (published posthumously), before leaving the islands in the early 1860s due to ill health.

[2] In addition to Bingham's conversions, many of the Gilbertese natives had been taken by blackbirders in the 1870s to work on plantations on other islands in the Pacific, where they were met by Catholic missionaries.

[2] They built eight small churches, where people of different villages assembled each Sunday to sing hymns and recite prayers.

[2] They anchored at the entrance of a wide, shallow lagoon, and took a dinghy to land on shore, where a crowd of local people were waiting.

[2] The trip to the shore was taking several hours, so the two priests decided to celebrate Mass on the dinghy some distance from land as it was close to midday.

[2] In 1892, Father Bontemps, accompanied by two young Gilbertese men, left for Europe on a trip to gain assistance for the Gilbert Islands mission.

Marie Louise had long been a loyal helper of the Missionaries, but in this case she hesitated due to the exceptional isolation of the Gilbert Islands.

They lived off of coconuts, taros, fish, black coffee, brown sugar, biscuits, boiled rice, tinned beans, and salted meat.

The extreme heat, in addition to malnourishment and disease, caused a number of deaths during the early years; however, it took four months or longer for the news of this to reach Europe.

On one occasion, Mother M. Isabel and Father Bontemps left Nonouti to visit a nearby island, but after two weeks of battling against wind and strong currents, landed in Nauru, 100 kilometers off course.

There they were welcomed ashore by Spanish Capuchin missionaries, and were just in time for a feast and baptism of the native king and queen.

[2] Before 1894 and from 1910 to 1938, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart had to rely on passing ships carrying copra or cargo in order to reach the various islands.

[2] And, in 1960, several indigenous girls asked to join the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and were sent to study at the sisters' Australian novitiate.