In 1966, Pope Paul VI created the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Suva and appointed Bishop Foley, then Vicar Apostolic of Fiji, as Archbishop of Suva.
According to an article published by the Fiji Times on July 18 that year, the announcement was made in Rome in the morning on July 17 and relayed at the Cathedral of Sacred Heart in Suva.
The decision formed part of the Holy See’s wider move to establish the Roman Catholic hierarchy throughout the South Pacific. The action created separate autonomous diocese out of the existing vicariates apostolic across Fiji and neighbouring island territories.
Fiji became the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Suva within the new Ecclesiastical provinces created: the Ecclesiastical Province of Noumea, compromising the Archdiocese of Noumea, the diocese of Port Vila in the new Hebrides and the Diocese of Wallis-Futuna and the Ecclesiastical Province of Papeete, compromising the Archdiocese of Papeete and Diocese of Taihae in the Marquesas. Similar provinces have been set up in Papua-New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Tonga’s vicariate apostolic became the Diocese of Tonga but did not belong to any province, remaining directly under the Holy See. The Cook Islands Vicariate Apostolic became the Diocese of Rarotonga and a suffragan of the Province of Wellington in New Zealand.
Archbishop-elect Foley had received official notice on July 4 from the Apostolic Delegate to Oceania. In his letter, Archbishop Enrigi stated: “I have the honour and the pleasure to inform you that the Holy Father has established the Sacred Hierarchy in the island of the South Pacific. In accordance with the decision of the Holy Father, the Vicariate of Fiji is raised to the status of an archdiocese, and your Lordship is named as Archbishop of Suva.”
In his statement to the Fiji Times, Archbishop-elect Foley said the creation of the archdiocese was recognition of the Catholic Church’s long missionary history in Fiji.
“It crowns the work of the Marist Fathers, who are the pioneer Catholic missionaries of Fiji,” he had said, noting their 122 years of service in Fiji.
He said the timing was meaningful, as the Society of Mary was about to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its founding.
Bishop Foley said the Holy father’s action was a compliment to all the missionaries of Fiji, acknowledging the contributions of the Columban and Vincentian fathers, the secular clergy, the Marist Brothers, and the various orders of religious sisters — including the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary, the Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny, and the Sisters of Charity of Australia. He also expressed gratitude to France, noting that many Marist Fathers who served in Fiji were French.
The 1966 report stated that the Papal Bull formalising the establishment of the Archdiocese of Suva and the appointment of the archbishop was expected to arrive in August, after which it would be read at the cathedral before Archbishop Foley’s installation ceremony.
