St. Joseph's Cathedral, Avarua St. Joseph's Cathedral, Avarua The St. Joseph's Cathedral is the name that receives a religious building belonging to the Catholic Church that is located in the city of Avarua to the north of the island of Rarotonga the largest and most populated island of the Cook Islands a dependent territory of New Zealand in the Pacific Ocean. The temple follows the Roman or Latin rite and is the mother church of the Catholic Diocese of Rarotonga ("Dioecesis Rarotongana") which has jurisdiction over the Cook Islands and Niue and which was created as an apostolic prefecture in 1922 being elevated to
Rarotonga Walker sighted the island in 1813 on the ship "Endeavour". The first recorded landing by a European was Captain Philip Goodenough with William Wentworth in 1814 on the schooner "Cumberland". On 30 May 1965, five sounding rockets were launched from Rarotonga for studying a solar eclipse. Rarotonga is divided into three main districts or "vaka" (tribes). Te Au O Tonga on the northern side of the island (Avarua is the capital), Takitumu on the eastern and southern side and Puaikura on the western side. On the other hand, the island is also divided into five Land Districts. The Land District