The church building is the seventh structure to house the parish and was at one time the cathedral for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Natchitoches.

[3] Its location is believed to be the site of what is now called Church Street Inn and was destroyed in the Natchitoches fire of 1838.

[2] The present church was begun in 1857, but because of the American Civil War and the period of Reconstruction that followed it was not completed until sometime between 1900 and 1905.

The church building ceased being a cathedral on August 6, 1910, when the see city was transferred from Natchitoches to Alexandria.

[5] Pope Benedict XVI elevated the church to the status of a minor basilica on February 22, 2009.