Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Honiara
The Archdiocese of Honiara is the Latin Church’s archdiocese in the Solomon Islands. It is the metropolitan see of an ecclesiastical province that includes the suffragan dioceses of Gizo and Auki. The archdiocese covers 10,728 square kilometers and includes the city of Honiara on Guadalcanal and surrounding areas. About 292,000 people live in the territory, with about 65,783 Catholics, which is roughly 22.5 percent of the population. There are 14 parishes and 15 secular priests, along with 123 religious in 11 congregations.
The Holy Cross Cathedral in Honiara is the archdiocesan seat. The current Metropolitan Archbishop is Christopher Cardone, O.P., appointed in 2016 after Archbishop Adrian Smith, S.M., retired.
A brief history: The church’s structure in the Solomon Islands began in 1897 as the Prefecture Apostolic of the British Solomon Islands. It became the Vicariate Apostolic of the Southern Solomon Islands in 1912, then the Diocese of Honiara in 1966. In 1978, it was elevated to the Archdiocese of Honiara, and the province was created with the two suffragan sees of Gizo and Auki. The archdiocese also runs the Holy Name of Mary Seminary Tenaru, established in 1995.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 10:58 (CET).