The building, facing Branch Brook Park, is generally regarded as the "most perfect and exact example of French Gothic architecture in the Western Hemisphere.

[18][19] The church celebrates Hispanic heritage with an annual mass, featuring Spanish-language music, and participants often wear cultural dress to represent their nations of origin.

[20] Each spring, frequently during the cherry blossom season at Branch Brook Park across from the cathedral basilica, Cardinal Tobin holds a mass to honor and bless local couples celebrating 50 years of marriage.

[21][22] The cathedral basilica hosts the Blue Mass annually to honor the dedication and sacrifices of fallen, active, and retired New Jersey law enforcement personnel.

Numerous dignitaries typically attend, including Governor Phil Murphy, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and others.

[24][25] The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart was proposed in 1859 by James Roosevelt Bayley, the Bishop of Newark,[26] just six years after his appointment by Pope Pius IX.

Bayley waited to buy the land until the site was recommended by O'Rourke, the architect of the planned cathedral; and Monsignor Doane.

Doane liked the current site because it "commands a view of the Orange Mountains on the west and the Newark Valley, the hills of Staten Island, and New York on the east.

Wigger died on January 5, 1901, and the new bishop, John Joseph O'Connor, asked O'Rourke to cut costs not to exceed a price tag of US$1 million.

The carving of the medallions' scriptural scenes and bishops' portraits took place on-site between April 1922 and November 1924 under the direction of Rochette and Parzini of New York City.

General work re-commenced in August 1927 and ended some months later with the installation of an Italian Botticino-marble altar purchased from Benziger Brothers of New York City.

After nearly 95 years of planning and building, Thomas Aloysius Boland, Archbishop of Newark, finally dedicated the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart on October 19, 1954.

During the ceremony, Boland received the pallium from then-Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, Apostolic Nuncio (delegate) to the United States.

The Father Monsignor Joseph A. Doyle, who spent his entire priestly life in the cathedral parish, was appointed first rector.