It is the seat of the Diocese of San Jose, Nueva Ecija and is dedicated to Saint Joseph the Worker.

[1] The first missionaries in what is now the province of Nueva Ecija were the Augustinians who also founded the parishes of Carranglan, Pantabangan and Puncan, of which San Jose was initially part of.

San Jose was originally known as Kabaritan which is an Ilocano term for a "place abundant of barit", a type of rattan plant.

It was a barrio of Puncan and then of Lupao, before becoming an independent town in 1894, and was renamed San Jose in honor of its patron saint, Joseph.

[3] Twenty-one years later, in 1984, the church became the cathedral of the Diocese of San Jose whose territory comprises the northern half of the province.