The original inhabitants of Kiribati are an Austronesian people who arrived more than 2000 BP. Invasions by Fijians and Tongans brought Melanesian and Polynesian influence. European contact began in the 16th century. In 1892, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu) became British protectorates. A British colony from 1916, and scene of bitter fighting during World War II, Kiribati became an independent nation in 1979.[3]
The first Catholics were locals who had returned from working in Tahiti. They invited the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) to come from France.[4] Upon the partition of the Vicariate of Micronesia, the Gilbert Islands were created as a separate vicariate by the Catholic Church in 1897. Mgr. Joseph Leray was placed at its head and, with other MSC priests, he began missionary work in the islands.[5]
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