Documentation of Catholicism’s arrival in Tonga continues to grow, thanks to the latest contribution from the Church’s own esteemed Tongan scholar, Dr Felise Tāvō.
Announcing the new book Marist Priests in Tonga: Stories of Mission online this week, Tāvō highlighted the scarcity of English-language literature on this history, noting such works are “few and far between.”
The 1842 arrival of Tonga’s first French Marist missionaries proved historically significant, introducing Catholicism while advancing formal education across the islands.
However, this transformative period remained obscure to most, as its records existed largely in French.
The new book is an English translation of a detailed 145-page study originally written in French by historian Dr Caroline Toutain in 1992.
The work was commissioned by the late Bishop Patelesio Finau to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Catholicism in Tonga, the same year.
Although initially intended for translation by the late Fr Kale (also known as Fr George Callet), a French priest who served in Tonga for decades, the task was ultimately completed by Marist Brother Edward Clisby, then a teacher in Ha’apai, according to Tāvō.
However, as Br Clisby’s translation appears to have been lost, Dr Tāvō took on the project to ensure this valuable historical record remains accessible.
Leveraging his expertise in French and deep scholarly insight, Dr Tāvō has committed to continuing the documentation of the Church’s history preserved in French-language texts.
Earlier Works in English
The latest book comes after Dr Tāvō launched the publication of his previous book, “Catholic Church in Tonga” in February, focusing on its history, the missionaries and timeline.
That book, written in English, covers various aspects of the Church’s history, including the establishment of what appeared to be the first high school in Tonga, Apifo’ou College, which was founded in 1865 by the French Marist priests.
In 2023, Dr Tāvō launched Marists’ Presence and Perceptions in Tonga 1840–1900, an English translation of Dr Toutain’s 1987 French research.
Originally commissioned by then–Education Minister Dr Langi Kavaliku, the research aimed to fill the gap in English-language histories of the Church’s establishment in Tonga, which had largely overlooked the eyewitness accounts written in French by Marist missionaries during this pivotal period, according to Tāvō.
His publications join a small but significant group of existing works that have painstakingly preserved fragments of the faith’s early days in the Kingdom.
Tāvō previously said that additional research is still required, particularly through diaries, letters, and documents stored at the church’s archive at Toutaimana headquarters in Tonga.
“The research has yet to be completed as I have yet to read the multi-volume diaries by the French missionaries such as Lamaze, Blanc, Castagnier, Reiter and others at Toutaimana’s archive,” he previously told Kaniva News.
“If that’s done, there will be a possibility for better understanding and more corrections to our history.”
