The church was designed by Richard M. Upjohn, and its distinctive interior is largely the work of Tiffany & Co.

Built of Roxbury puddingstone in Gothic Revival style it was one of the first churches to relocate in the new Back Bay and was built largely with funds donated by Benjamin Bates, an industrialist who founded Bates College.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said: "We have one steeple in Boston that to my eyes seems absolutely perfect — that of the Central Church on the corner of Newbury and Berkeley Streets.

Two deeply Catholic brothers, Connor and Murphy MacManus (played by Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus respectively) show their devotion in church as the priest rails against the passive indifference to evil.

Given the nature of the script, there were problems finding a church liberal enough to permit filming inside.