The patron of the church is the religious and mystical Italian Passionist Saint Gemma Galgani. In addition to the local priest, the brothers of the Congregation of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception operate a shelter. There are also two congregations of nuns who administer a bedroom that include the Augustinian sisters.
The parish is the mother church of the area, which was designated an apostolic prefecture in 1954. It was elevated to cathedral status when the prefecture was erected as a diocese in 1961 by the bull "Quod Christus" of Pope John XXIII.