INTRAMUROS, Manila — Reports from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has announced that Filipino priest Fr. Eliseo Napiere has formally assumed the role of ecclesiastical superior of the Mission Sui Iuris of Funafuti in the island nation of Tuvalu in Polynesia.

Tuvalu is a small country consisting of nine islands located near Papua New Guinea and Australia. The Mission Sui Iuris here acts as an independent mission established by the Church in places with few Catholics, who face persecution or live in a very remote area.

The Tuvalu parish has about 110 parishioners and is under the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Evangelization of Peoples.

The 58-year-old Napiere is a member of the Mission Society of the Philippines (MSP) and was installed in his new ministry by the appointment of Pope Francis last June 3, 2024. As superior, Napiere will be a member of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific.

Napiere’s installation took place in the presence of Fr. Joshua Bogsti, chargé d’affaires at the apostolic nunciature in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and MSP father moderator Reginaldo Lavilla.

He succeeded Bishop Reynaldo Getalado, who is now shepherd of the Diocese of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. Prior to his new assignment, he served as pastor of St. James the Less under the United States diocese of San Bernardino in California, since 2018.