Pio Taofinu'u

Cardinal Pio Taofinu'u SM ( born December 8, 1923 in Falealupo, Western Samoa, † January 19, 2006 in Apia ) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Samoa - Apia.

Life

Pio Taofinu'u studied at the Seminary of Wallis and Iceland at the Marist Fathers in Green Meadows, New Zealand, philosophy and Catholic theology. On December 8, 1954, he received the Sacrament of Holy Orders, and then worked in parish ministry before he entered the Maristenorden and in New York City completed his novitiate.

After his return from the United States, he was Episcopal Vicar and in 1966 Vicar-General of the newly established Diocese of Apia. 1968 Pope Paul VI appointed him. Bishop of Apia. Pio Taofinu'u became the first Polynesian bishop of the Church's history.

On March 5, 1973 he took Paul VI. as cardinal priest with the titular church of S. Onofrio in the College of Cardinals. Cardinal Taofinu'u took part in the August conclave and on October Conclave 1978.

Taofinu'u founded numerous schools and advocated for the improvement of living conditions in the lower strata of society. In 1982 he became Archbishop of Samoa - Apia and Tokelau and provided this office until his retirement in 2002.

At Conclave 2005, in which Benedict XVI. was elected, he did not participate, as he had at that time already exceeded the maximum permissible for the active Pope suffrage maximum age of 80 years.