St Mary’s Cathedral

St Mary’s Cathedral stands on Vuna Road by the waterfront.  It is sometimes called the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.  It is a Roman Catholic cathedral, governed by the Roman or Latin rite and is the seat of the diocese of Tonga.  About 16 per cent of Tongans are Roman Catholics.  The Society of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary first took responsibility for introducing Catholicism to Oceania, missionaries coming first in 1839 and then again in 1842.  There is no official religion in Tonga.  They run schooling and social services in Tonga.