After years of persecution of the Roman Catholic Church in the Hawaiian Islands at the hands of Congregationalist and Presbyterian ministers who befriended the reigning monarchs Kamehameha II, Kamehameha III and Kaahumanu, the Hawaiian Government finally issued an Edict of Toleration creating the freedom of religious expression. As an act of reconciliation, Kamehameha III gave the first Roman Catholic missionaries under the leadership of Apostolic Vicar Etienne Jerome Rouchouze a piece of royal estate to build its first church in the Hawaiian Islands.

The missionaries broke ground for the new church to be built on July 9, 1840. It coincided with the Feast of Our Lady of Peace, patroness of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary religious order of which the missionaries were members. A liturgical mass was celebrated on the day of groundbreaking. Native Hawaiians of which there were 280 in number received the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and first Eucharist. The cornerstone was officially laid in a ceremony on August 6 of that year. Construction continued after groundbreaking with devoted Native Hawaiian volunteers harvesting blocks of coral from the shores of Ala Moana, Kakaako and Waikiki. Down the street, Congregationalist missionaries began the construction of Kawaiahao Church.

On August 14, 1843, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace was consecrated and dedicated. However, it would be decades before the building would be truly considered completed. Several bishops in residence at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace remained unhappy with the construction and often commissioned renovations.

When Louis Desire Maigret inherited the church as corporation sole by virtue of his office of bishop, the interior was furnished with a simple wooden altar, communion rail and pulpit. The floors were covered in lauhala leaf mats. The cathedra, also known then as the bishop's throne, was imported and installed. Throughout his term as bishop, Maigret also raised the ceiling, added a choir loft and galleries overlooking the nave and paneled the ceilings with bronze ornaments.

Extensive marble work was done with the installation of a French marble altar. It was crowned by a triptych featuring statues of Our Lady of Peace looked upon by Saint Joachim and Saint Anne. The most prominent exterior achievement for Maigret was the installation of the first domed bell tower in the Hawaiian Islands. In 1866, the domed bell tower was stripped from the exterior by Maigret and replaced with a wooden spire topped with a cross.


On December 24, 1893, Msgr. Gulstan Ropert dedicated a bronze statue of Our Lady of Peace, hoisted onto a pedestal with plaques on four sides engraved in English, French, Portuguese and Hawaiian with the words, "In memory of the first Roman Catholic Church, Our Lady of Peace 1827 to 1893." The statue was a recreation of an original 16th century wooden carving still venerated in the Paris convent of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.


When Libert Hubert John Louis Boeynaems inherited the church as corporation sole, he idealized the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace to possibly become a beautiful Gothic cathedral similar to the more famous European churches of his homeland. He commissioned the renovation of the cathedral; its first phase was the construction of an elaborate porch at the cathedral facade. The first phase was completed in 1910. In 1917, Boeynaems stripped the wooden spire from the exterior in favor of a concrete bell tower with clock. Overall, the construction projects were failures. The Gothic architecture did not match the Fort Street surroundings and became too costly for the apostolic vicariate to complete other phases. The Gothic dream died with Boeynaems.


When Stephen Peter Alencastre assumed the episcopacy of the Hawaiian Islands, he stripped the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace of all vestiges of its Gothic experiment. The Gothic porch was torn down, the walls were covered in plaster and painted white. Red Spanish terra cotta tiles covered the cathedral roof. In anticipation for the celebration of the centennial of the arrival of the first Roman Catholic missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands, the Italian government presented a gift of new white marble altar with statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, parents of Jesus. Upon the completion of his construction projects, Alencastre established the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace's present-day Romanesque revival style.

Over 2,500 people flock to the downtown Honolulu location weekly to attend liturgical mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace of which there are several services each Sunday. Mass is scheduled daily at 6:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Saturday services are held at 7:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and a vigil mass is celebrated at 5:00 p.m. Mass is celebrated six times on Sundays at 6:00 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. According to the October 11, 2003 Welcoming Parish Report requested by Francis X. DiLorenzo, fourth Bishop of Honolulu, over fifty percent of the cathedral worship community is Filipino American. Over fifty percent reside outside the normal parish boundaries coming from elsewhere on the island of Oahu. Over fifty percent are over the age of forty.