St Monica’s Cathedral

On 10th January 1886, Cairns’ first catholic church and priory, St Monica’s, was opened on the corner of Abbott and Minnie Streets.

Sadly, it was destroyed in the 1927 cyclone, but was rebuilt in 1928. This building is now home to Catholic Services.

St Monica’s was not the first church in the diocese, nor – at the time – was it a Cathedral. In 1886 other churches had already been established at Cooktown, Herberton, Port Douglas, Normanton and Croydon.

In 1941, Cairns became a diocese, and the most recent incarnation of St Monica’s Cathedral was blessed and opened in July 1968. It can be found at 181 Abbott Street, Cairns.