[3] According to the CIA World Fact Book, in the 2001 census, Catholics accounted for 19.6% of the population, being the second largest Christian denomination after Congregationalist at 34.8%.
[5] Prior to the arrival of European visitors, Samoa had a complex polytheistic religion which also incorporated elements of ancestor worship.
In 1836 Pope Gregory XVI commissioned the Marist Fathers to bring Catholicism to the Western Pacific and missionaries from this French religious institute arrived in Samoa in 1845.
[8] Christianity took firm root in the islands and attendance at Church on Sundays has remained high to the present day[6] In 1896, Mgr.
[10][11] In 2007, in a ceremony organized by the Catholic Church, the Samoan head of state asked for divine forgiveness of his country's sins.