Located on a hill called Mount Saint Sepulcher,[5] and anchored by the Memorial Church of the Holy Sepulcher,[3] it includes gardens, replicas of various shrines throughout Israel, a replica of the catacombs in Rome, an archive, a library, as well as bones of Saint Benignus of Armagh, brought from the Roman catacombs and originally in the cathedral of Narni, Italy.

The Very Reverend Charles A. Vassani (1831–1896) established the U.S. Commissariat of the Holy Land in 1880, in New York City.

They envisioned building on a high hill on Staten Island, overlooking the entrance to New York's harbor.

[6] In January 1992, the "Franciscan Monastery and Memorial Church of the Holy Land" was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[5] In 2022, the Archdiocese set the site as the sole designated location for Sunday celebration the Tridentine Mass within the city of Washington.

The Rosary Portico resembles the Cloister of St. John Lateran in Rome and Saint Paul's Outside the Walls.

[citation needed] A Lively-Fulcher organ was installed in 2003[10] which replaced the Henry Pilcher Sons Opus 1481.