[2] Cox opened the first Catholic museum in the United States after receiving a standard [3] blessing from then-Pope John Paul II.

[7] The museum's collection aims to cover the many facets of Catholic art,[1] although in 2003 Joseph Berger wrote that it lacked a unifying theme, relying instead on donated works.

[4] In 2002, faced with increasing rents, the museum moved to E. 115th Street, the former home of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Shrine[9] which had recently been spared significant damage from a fire.

[6] The museum received around four million dollars in grants from New York State, in the hopes that it would help revitalize East Harlem.

with helping to shape and develop the so-called "new Harlem" that was evolving as a result of increased money and the gentrification of the neighborhood.