[3] The first Catholic presence in the present day San Jose area, then part of the Spanish empire, was the Mission Santa Clara de Asís, built in 1777.

The missionary Junipero Serra established the mission on the Guadalupe River to minister to the Ohlone Native Americans.

[7] In 1853, the Vatican moved the northern half of Santa Clara County into the newly erected Archdiocese of San Francisco.

In 1922, the Vatican transferred the southern half of Santa Clara County from the Diocese of Monterey to the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

[11] The diocese decided to closed Saint Joseph's, demolish the building and sell part of the property to a developer.

[15][16] However, facing criticism about the purchase, McGrath said a day later that the diocese would sell the house and he would retire to a parish rectory instead.

This was in preparation for a new California law that temporarily removed the statute of limitations on sexual abuse lawsuits.

The Diocese of San José in California publishes a quarterly trilingual magazine, The Valley Catholic.