Catholic Church in Wallis and Futuna

Responsibility for Oceania was given by the Catholic Church to the Society of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in 1825; but the territory was judged to be too large, and the western portion was formed into a vicariate Apostolic and given to the Society of Mary in 1836, with Mgr Jean Baptiste Pompallier (1807–1871) appointed vicar Apostolic of Western Oceania.

In 1842, the vicariate Apostolic of Central Oceania was created comprising New Caledonia, Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji.

[4] St Peter Chanel, was made the superior of a band of Marist missionaries that set out on 24 December 1836 from France.

Once the missionaries learned the local language and began preaching directly to the people, the king grew restive.

Pompallier sent Frs Catherin Servant, François Roulleaux-Dubignon and Br Marie Nizier to return to the Island.

[6] As a kind of penitence a special action song and dance, known as the eke, was created by the people of Futuna shortly after Chanel's death.

On 5 April 1887, the queen of Uvea (on the island of Wallis) signed a treaty officially establishing a French protectorate.