Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Honiara Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Honiara The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Honiara is a Latin Rite Metropolitan Archdiocese in the Solomon Islands. It is the latter day successor of the Prefecture Apostolic of the English Solomon Islands, which was erected in 1897. The Province of Honiara was created in 1978, the first such creation of Pope John Paul II, and has two suffragan sees: Gizo (1966, formerly the Vicariate Apostolic of Western Solomon Islands) and Auki (1982). Holy Cross Cathedral, Honiara, on the island of Guadalcanal, is the seat of the Metropolitan See. It was dedicated on 17 September 1978 by
Honiara in Nomasu Nakaguma's infantry battalions as they tried to approach the Marine lines. Both sides incurred heavy losses during the events of the overall battle, especially the Japanese attackers. After an attempt to deliver further reinforcements failed during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942, Japan conceded defeat in the struggle for the island and evacuated many of its remaining forces by the first week of February 1943. The Quonset hut built by the Americans can still be seen in the back lanes of the town and numerous memorials give testament to the war. Honiara officially became the capital