The Catholic Church has been present on the island of Trinidad since the 15th century, when the first missionaries arrived here from the Dominican and the Franciscan Religious orders.
In 1797, Trinidad came under British control and missionary work continued because freedom of worship was granted to Catholics.
Only in 1864 did the archbishops begin a serious program of evangelization of the island of Tobago, where other Christian denominations had prospered in the meantime, including Anglicans and Methodists.
On July 23, 1978 Pope Paul VI issued a breve "Commune omnium bonum",[4] which established in Trinidad and Tobago an Apostolic Nunciature.
Relations between church and state are cordial; both want more native clergy , and have a close relationship via the Education Concordat.