THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
(Evangelicals, 813,700, excluding the Negroes of the United States).
4. Australia and Oceania: (1) The Roman mission in Australia among aborigines is of slight moment. In New Nursia, in West Australia, four priests (Spanish Benedictines) and 43 lay brothers, with 2 sisters, care for the 100 (according to Die Katholische Kirche, 140) surviving aborigines. In the north, on Beagle Bay, the Trappists labor with 8 priests and 10 lay brothers, since 1890, among 350 natives. They had 60 converts, but abandoned their task, which was then taken up by the Pallottinians (see Pallotti, Vincenzo, Pallottinians). In the diocese of Victoria and Palmerston several thousand natives are known, but nothing is said of a mission among them. In Queensland a vicariate was erected in 1887 for the aborigines; but there is no report of missionary work there (the Evangelical mission has 23 stations with 1,100 native Christians, 11 stations for Chinese with 700 Christians, and 8 stations for natives who have been brought in from the islands, with 2,000 converts. (2) In New Zealand the Roman Catholic missionaries established themselves in 1838, when the Evangelical mission was already flourishing. They succeeded in gathering 5,000 Maoris. During the insurrections which followed, these were scattered and in 1870 the complaint was made that there was no longer a Maori mission. In the archdiocese of Wellington are 4 stations with 1,500 Roman Catholics; for the diocese of Auckland 5,000 are given (according to Die Katholische Kirche, 5,700), in charge of eight priests of Mill Hill. (3) In New Caledonia, where the first efforts of the London Mission were rendered vain by the Marists, the Roman mission was soon very successful; it was, however, destroyed by a revolt of the natives, but was resumed under the protection of the French. Since the founding of the colony, the aborigines have rapidly died out; of 100,000 but 25,000 remain. The neighboring Loyalty Islands, whose inhabitants at the time of the seizure of these islands were for the most part evangelized, are incorporated in the vicariate of New Caledonia. The London Mission which was working there was forced out and the remaining heathen islanders were easily won for the Roman Catholic mission; the remainder continued true to their faith in spite of oppression. The vicariate, which includes also the northern New Hebrides, has 36 stations and 11,500 Roman Catholics. Of this number, 18 stations are on the mainland, but the number of converts there is not given; in any case, the majority of the aborigines have not yet been won for the Roman Catholic Church. Native Evangelical teachers from the Loyalty Islands have undertaken independent missionary work in New Caledonia; recently the Paris Evangelical Mission has entered this field as well as the Loyalty Islands.
The Missiones Catholicce gives the following figures: 63 priests, 23 schools (19 boarding-schools with 1,500 scholars), 52 lay brothers and 54 sisters (Evangelical mission in the Loyalty Islands: 3 stations, 2 missionaries, 34 native pastors, 10,195 Christians). (4) Prefecture of the New Hebrides. This was separated from the above-mentioned vicariate in 1901. Here too the Marists entered the field of the Evangelical mission, worthily founded here by the blood of the martyrs which was freely shed in Erromanga. There
are 16 priests, 7 schools, and, according to Die katholische Kirche, 1,200 converts. (Evangelical mission: 9 stations, 37 missionaries, 1 ordained native, 8,995 Christians, and 234 schools with 4,000-5,000 scholars.) (5) Vicariate of Central Oceania : Futuna and Wallis Islands form the chief seat of the Marists who, starting from here, placed missions in the Evangelical missionary fields on the neighboring islandgroups. They were brought into Tonga, by the military occupation of the French, but have won only 1,890 of the 22,000 islanders. The entire vicariate counts 15 stations, 18 priests, 2 lay brothers, 59 sisters, 9,450 converts, 44 schools and 2,000 scholars. (6) Vicariate of the Samoan Islands. Here too the Marists have established work in a field already evangelized. As a result of the confessional divisions, old tribal feuds broke out anew in bloody conflicts. The Roman Catholic mission makes every effort to profit by the new political situation. There are 15 stations (25), 18 priests (10 missionaries), 1 native priest (181), 3 lay brothers, 10 sisters, 6,000 converts (33,310), 67 schools (261), 758 scholars (8,783). (7) The vicariate of the Viti Islands was detached from the prefecture of Central Oceania in 1844. At first the efforts of the Marists had but little success in comparison with the earlier work of the English Methodists. Only when the colonization from Australia increased did larger Roman Catholic communities arise among the natives. There are 17 stations (10), 32 priests (11), 11 lay brothers, 28 sisters, 9,848 converts (97,254), 31 schools, 2,471 scholars (34,966). The statistics relating to Rotuma are here included. (8) The vicariate of New Guinea embraces the English part of the island besides the Louisiade and Torres Islands, and was in 1887 assigned to the Congregation of the Sacred Heart at Issoudun. The London Mission had already opened up this fiejd after overcoming great difficulties: 8 stations (10), 18 priests (10 missionaries and 104 native pastors), 22 lay brothers, 37 sisters, 4,000 converts (6,492), 29 schools (45), 1,084 scholars (2,011). (9) The vicariate of New Pomerania was assigned in 1889 to ths same congregation. It embraces the whole Bismarck Archipelago. The Roman mission came here also into a successful Evangelical missionary field, that of the Australian Methodists, from whose communities the greater number of Roman Catholics were won. There are 11 stations (3), 20 priests (3, besides 4 ordained natives and 98 assistants), 29 lay brothers, 17 sisters, 13 schools (101), 600 scholars (3,000), 6,600 converts (7,962). In the prefecture of Kaiser Wilhelxnsland are 3 Roman Catholic stations of the Steyl Society of the Divine Word, situated in the western part of the German protectorate (7 Evangelical in the East), 7 priests (13), 9 lay brothers, 4 schools. (4) Die katholische Kirche reports 400 converts. (11) and (12) The prefectures of the Solomon Islands were founded in 1897 and 1898, and entrusted to the Marists. In the two 7 priests are active. (13) In the vicariate of the Caroline Islands, after the group was awarded to Spain, the Carmelites in Ponape sought with the aid of the military power to suppress the Evangelical mission. In spite of their bloody defeats, they finally succeeded in drawing over to their church the Christians, who were at last intimidated. The same congregation had already worked at an earlier period in the West Carolines. They report 4 stations (3, with the Marshall Islands), 12 priests (7 missionaries, besides 22 native pastors), 14 lay brothers, 16 schools (120), 900 scholars (5,587), 1,400 converts (18,115). (14) The vicariate of the Gilbert Islands includes the Ellice Islands. Here the missionaries from Issoudun compete with the English and American missions. There are 11 stations, 11 priests (27 native pastors, including the Tokelon Islands), 12 lay brothers, 9 sisters, 67 schools (27), 1,220 scholars (3,357), 11,000 converts (10,734, including the Tokelon Islands). (15) The vicariate of Tahiti has existed since 1844, when the Evangelical mission was forced out by French arms. On the principal island, the Roman mission, carried on by the congregation of Picpus, has had but little success. The natives have remained true to their confession. The same holds good of the western islands of the group. The Roman Catholics had greater success with the still heathen population of the Pammotu Islands and recently they have won converts in great numbers in the Harvey Islands also, which belong to the same apostolic vicariate. Of the 32,000 inhabitants of the regions here noticed, 7,230 are Roman Catholics (18,470); there are 26 stations (7), 18 priests (8), 12 lay brothers, 24 sisters, o2 schools (46?) and 1,800 scholars (3,389). (16) In the vicariate of the Marquesas Islands, among the savage and rapidly diminishing population, the Congregation of Picpus has after long-continued efforts at last succeeded in winning