[3] Suñol, alongside his brother-in-law Antonio María Pico (who served as Alcalde of San José at the time), oversaw the construction of the church for the next eight years until its completion and consecration in 1846.

[4] In 1842, Suñol petitioned Francisco García Diego y Moreno, the Bishop of the Californias, for proper religious vestments and relics for the church.

In 1981, a major renovation project was begun at the church, which was to become the cathedral for the new Roman Catholic Bishop of San Jose.

First Archbishop of San Francisco dedicated Saint Joseph Church, fourth on this site, on land donated by Antonio Sunol for the first permanent Catholic Parish in California, founded in 1803.

The top of the walls of the inside of the cathedral include quotes from the Vulgate about Joseph: The stained glass windows going counter clockwise from the east transept depict: The Odell pipe organ was built in 1886 by the J. H. and C. S. Odell Company in Yonkers, New York.