Construction of the church started in 1913, but proceeded rather slowly. The interior was finished in 1930, but construction of the exterior, including the twin towers on the west facade and the flèche at the crossing, was not completed until 1951.
The cathedral's architect was Henry A. Walsh of Cleveland, Ohio, who designed the cathedral in a Norman Gothic style. Due to the length of the construction, Walsh was unable to see the project to completion, and Detroit architect George Diehl was chosen to succeed him for the construction of the towers in 1950. The building's exterior is made of Ohio sandstone, with Indiana limestone used for buttress facings, traceries, and doorways. The cathedral includes external and internal statuary by sculptor Corrado Parducci.
The Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament is a Roman Catholic cathedral church in the United States. It is the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, Michigan. During Pope John Paul II's 1987 visit to the United States he visited guests at the cathedral and lodged at the adjacent archbishop's residence.