 After attending the Second Vatican Council, 1961–65, at which the public worship of the Catholic Church was subject to substantial revision after a period of approximately 450 years of rigidity, the Most Rev.Thomas Cahill Bishop of Cairns commissioned Brisbane architect Ian Ferrier to design the cathedral to reflect these changes.Bishop Cahill was appointed Archbishop of Canberra-Goulburn Arch-Diocese, prior to the completion of St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral, and was later appointed the Chair of the Australian Episcopal Liturgical Commission.