The Catholic Church in Fiji 1844 to 1886 By Alfred Deniau SM (translated from the French manuscript by John Crispin SM) 1 2 Contents Introduction ................................................................................. 8 LMS and Wesleyan Ministers 1825-1835 ......................................10 The First Two Wesleyan Ministers at Lakeba 1835 ......................12 The First Wesleyan Church in Lakeba ...........................................13 The Pamphlet: “A taro ka kaya kei na Lotu Popi” .........................14 The Catholic Missionaries Arrive in Fiji August 1844 .....................15 Arrival of the Catholic Missionaries at Namuka. ...........................16 Two Masses Celebrated at Namuka on the Assumption. ..............19 Father Breheret Leaves Namuka and Arrives at Lakeba. ...............22 The Definitive Establishment of the Catholic Mission at Lakeba in July 1845 .....................................................................................26 The Chief of Lakeba Tui Nayau Says he is Wesleyan 1849 .............30 Arrival in Fiji of Four new Missionaries and Three Brothers 1851 .34 Station of Levuka (Ovalau) 1851...................................................37 Station of Somosomo (Taveuni) 1851...........................................40 Stations of Lakeba and Levuka (continued) ..................................42 Station of Rewa: Begun 19 March 1852 .......................................43 Third Visit of Bishop Bataillon to Fiji .............................................60 Bishop Bataillon Reunited all the Fathers on the 15th August ........61 Levuka the only Station of Missionaries from 15 August 1855 ......62 The State of the Catholic Missionaries on Ovalau .........................71 Difficulties with the Wesleyans ....................................................77 Semisi in Yasawa 1858 .................................................................81 The Fourth Visit of Bishop Bataillon to the Fiji Islands in 1859 ......84 Station of Rewa Reopened 1859 ..................................................87 The Fifth Visit of Bishop Bataillon to the Fiji Islands in 1861 .........91 The Foundation of the Station of Solevu ......................................93 The War in Macuata 1861 ............................................................95 Return of Ratu Golea to Cakaudrove ............................................97 The Battle of Wairiki ..................................................................101 The Catholic Church in Kadavu ...................................................106 3 The Death of Father Aubry 1863 ................................................107 Three New Priests Arrive ...........................................................110 Foundation of the Station of Wairiki 1863 ..................................111 Arrival in Fiji of Father Camu ......................................................114 The arrival in Levuka of Father Deniau and Father Fauvel ...........116 The Foundation of the Station at Kadavu. ..................................116 Visit of Father Poupinel 1866 .....................................................117 The Arrival of Father Montmayeur and Brother Stanislas ...........123 Foundation of the Station of Verata 1867 ..................................126 Material Improvements .............................................................128 The Religious Condition of the Different Stations in Fiji in 1868 and 1869 ..........................................................................................129 The Attempt to Found a Station at Macuata at the Beginning of 1869 ..........................................................................................130 War on Ovalau: the People of Lovoni ........................................135 Care of Melanesian Workers ......................................................136 An Attempt at Central Government ...........................................137 Religious State of the Stations 1872-3 ........................................138 The Death of Brother Stanislas Gabriel Claret.............................139 The Great Political Events of 1874 ..............................................139 The Measles Epidemic of 1875 ...................................................141 The Death of Brother Boisson ....................................................144 List of the Dead and the Survivors after the Epidemic ................145 Political Matters after the Epidemic ...........................................146 Schools ......................................................................................147 Father Breheret’s Report in 1879 ...............................................151 Summary of Catholics at the end of 1879: ..................................155 Father Bochettaz put in Charge of the School at Nazareth..........157 Founding of the Station of Culanuku ..........................................157 Persecution in Cakaudrove ........................................................158 Sisters Arrive to Teach the Girls 1882 .........................................162 Persecution Again in Cakaudrove: 1883 .....................................164 Ovalau (outstations): Ba and Yasawa. ........................................175 Census of Catholics at the End of 1883. ......................................178 Persecution in Cakaudrove again 1884 .......................................178 4 The Catechists Spread out from Wairiki .....................................184 Report of Father Breheret in 1885 .............................................187 Statistics for the mission at the end of 1885:..............................192 Report of Father Joly in 1886 .....................................................194 Notices ......................................................................................196 Statistics of the Catholic Mission ................................................197 Index ............................................................................................198 5 6 7 Introduction This history is not well known in Fiji, and it deserves a wider audience. The original manuscript is kept in the archives of the Marist Fathers’ general house in Rome. It is a hand written document, and written in French: so no wonder that it is not well known in Fiji. Father Walter Deniau was a Marist priest who arrived in Fiji in 1865. He worked in Rewa, Tailevu and Taveuni. He left Fiji in 1888 to join the first group of Marist priests sent to Vanuatu. So his history contains a lot of material that he witnessed: especially in Verata (Tailevu), and Wairiki (Taveuni). He started the first catechists’ school in Fiji, at Lokia, opposite Naililili. He started the mission of Verata (which later shifted to Natovi), and he was ten years in charge of Wairiki. He was an energetic priest, who used catechists well. It is a pity he was not allowed to stay in Fiji. Even the material from before his time in Fiji he was able to gain from first hand accounts of the priests from that time, with whom he lived when he arrived, e.g. Father Favier and father Breheret. After his time in Wairiki he was sent to Vanuatu, to help establish the newly opened Catholic mission there. Bishop Blanc of Tonga wrote in the 1920’s a history of the Catholic Church in Fiji. This , too, is not well known today, but there are two copies of the printed book (in French!) in the archives of Marist Provincial house in Suva. In a footnote he mentions that Deniau’s history is the best of the old histories written by the early Fathers in Fiji. Several years ago I was able to get a part of Deniau’s history photocopied and sent to me in Wairiki, where I used his account of the battle with the Tongans in the short history I prepared of Wairiki. After that I always wanted to get the whole text, so when 8 my work took me to Rome in December 2013, I was able to scan the whole hand-written document, and bring it back to Fiji in my computer. So I now offer it to those who are interested in the history of the Catholic Church in Fiji. Wesleyan – Catholic relations. There was very bad feeling between the Wesleyan ministers and the Catholic priests of that time, and this comes through very loud and clear in this history. These were the conditions prevailing at that time, and it is necessary to understand this to appreciate the difficulties that the first Catholic missionaries laboured under. I would not want the use of this text to harm the good relations that now exist between the Wesleyan and Catholic churches, but at the same time information on the period needs to be made available. The Wesleyan ministers were probably afraid that what had happened in Tahiti might happen here. In Tahiti an LMS missionary arrived first. Catholic priests followed, and the French government expelled the LMS missionary, and declared Tahiti French. That fear would explain some of the vehemence of the Wesleyan missionaries against the Catholics. As well as that, we need to understand that this sort of thing was common enough in many countries at that time. Thank God it is no longer so. John Crispin SM Suva 21 May 2013 9 LMS and Wesleyan Ministers 1825-1835 The Protestant ministers were the first to arrive in Fiji. The Catholic missionaries came only much later. Before the arrival of the Catholics two Protestant sects came in succession to Fiji: the Independents (London Missionary Society) and the Wesleyans. The Independents arrived in Fiji about 1825, and established themselves at Lakeba. Lakeba is an