In 1897 the islands were put under the jurisdiction of Broyer, Apostolic Vicar of Samoa, and in 1898 formed into a new prefecture under Joseph Forestier, who resided at Kieta, on Bougainville Island. Fever was so prevalent at the mission that most of the priests who went to the islands in 1898 died from disease.
In 1911 the mission contained: 3 churches; 3 stations; 10 Marist Fathers; 5 lay brothers; 7 sisters of the Third Order of Mary; 2 Samoan catechists; 5 Catholic schools, with 140 pupils; 2 orphanages; and a few hundred Catholics. The Marist missionaries belonged to the Province of Oceania, the superior of which resided at Sydney, New South Wales.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "North Solomon Islands". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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