A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parishchurch that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostolic administration) that is not yet entitled to a proper cathedral. A pro-cathedral is distinct from a proto-cathedral, the term in the Catholic Church for a former cathedral, which typically results from moving an episcopal see to another (usually new) cathedral, in the same or another city. 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).
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.
In Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, the parish church of Saint Peter's was the pro-cathedral for the Anglican southern Saskatchewan diocese until 1944. From 1944 to 1979, St. Paul's Cathedral served as the pro-cathedral before it was elevated to cathedral status.
In the United States, the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Savannah, Georgia, is the pro-cathedral for the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia. The Cathedral of the Incarnation (Baltimore) was a pro-cathedral for 35 years before the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland passed a resolution in 1955 for it to become the diocesan cathedral. St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was designated the pro-cathedral in the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem in 1999 and as the pro-cathedral by the presiding bishop and the president of the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church in 2001. St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church in Tonawanda, New York, became a pro-cathedral on August 12, 2011, as part of the North American Anglican Conference, and is the seat for Bishop[2] Bill Atwood.[3][4]Christ Church in Plano, Texas, was designated as Provincial Pro-Cathedral for the Anglican Church in North America by Archbishop Beach in November 2021. Some churches in the United States have also served as pro-cathedrals during times of expansion but were never exaulted 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.
Saint Patrick's Pro-Cathedral in located in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.