The Protestant missionaries that had first arrived in the Hawaiian islands in 1820 were not the only religious group on the islands, though because they brought a printing press they are more heavily represented in the historical record. Catholic missionaries also attempted to win converts and there was significant conflict between the two religious groups.
Earlier Catholic documents had been printed in the Hawaiian language in Paris, but the "Palapala Katolika" or the Catholic Press was not set up until they brought their own press in 1840. They quickly reported: "The press of the Catholic missionaries works well; over two thousand copies of the little treatise on the true Catholic church have been struck off." (see Forbes, HNB, p. 287) Exactly how well the press worked could be debated, as the press work is not as crisp and clean as the other presses on the islands. The AAS copy is special because it is unopened, that is, the printed sheets were folded to make a booklet and then stab sewn, but the conjoined parts were never cut so not all the pages can be easily read. Within the first year, Catholic missionary priests wrote that the people had memorized this book and were asking for more, which they got the next year with the publication of a catechism: He Vahi katekimo.
English translation of title from Forbes: An Explanation of the Catholic religion.