[4] Pope John Paul II elevated Honiara to its status of Metropolitan Archdiocese by papal bull, "Laetentur insulae multae", in 1978.

This Holy Cross pro-cathedral was adapted from a large Quonset hut; it was blessed and opened to the public in 1957.

The site chosen for the cathedral was believed to be that of the first Christian cross erected in the Solomons, planted by the expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568.

[b][11] Its foundation stone laid in 1976, the permanent Holy Cross Cathedral, built on the same hill where the pro-cathedral stood, was consecrated and opened in 1978.

[13] There are several carved elements such as those seen on the altar and the lectern where it is possible to see the influence of local culture in the church.