In a broader context, the term "proto-cathedral" may refer to a church used by a bishop before the designation of a settled cathedral (or pro-cathedral).
The Anglican Parish Church of St Helier in Jersey serves as the island's pro-cathedral.
In Poland, the Carmelite Church, Warsaw, served as a pro-cathedral until the reconstruction of St John's Cathedral.
In Albania, the Albanese Apostolic Administration of Southern Albania had the Kisha e Shën Maria dhe Shën Luigji, in Vlore, as only episcopal see of its Eastern Catholic particular sui jurus Albanian Catholic Byzantine Church.
The Church of San Antonio de Motael was the pro-cathedral of Dili, East Timor, before the Immaculate Conception Cathedral was constructed in 1989.
In San Luis Obispo, California, the parish church of Old Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa and in Salinas, California, the parish of Madonna Del Sasso, were both elevated to pro-cathedral status by the late Bishop Richard Garcia.
Some churches in the United States have served as pro-cathedrals during times of expansion but were never exulted to full cathedral status, such as the Church of the Good Shepherd in Raleigh, North Carolina, which served as the pro-cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, until it was decided they would have no cathedral.