The growing devotion to Our Lady of Fatima influenced the expansion of the small sanctuary.

The parish of St Joseph in Tarnów was founded by the then Ordinary of the Diocese of Tarnów, Bishop Jan Stepa, in 1951 at the Chapel of St Joseph (Dwernickiego Street). However, this chapel could not meet the needs of the many thousands of people in this parish, so from the outset there was a great demand for a church.

The first design work for the new church was undertaken at the beginning of 1957. The church was to conform to the long-standing traditions of ecclesiastical art and, simultaneously, to the contemporary requirements of European architecture. The design finally selected was that of a team comprising architect Jerzy Kozłowski, Krystian Seibert, Zbigniew Wolak (collaboration: K. Pęcławski, consultation A.Kozłowski).

Implementation began in July 1957 and was completed in autumn 1960. Stanisław Boratyński was the construction manager, and Wawrzyniec Wojtasiewicz was the supervising inspector.

The temple is three-nave with a total width of 22 metres and a length of 45. Next to the apse on the west side is the sacristy, and on the east side is the memorial chapel for the victims of the concentration camps. Beneath the chapel is a burial crypt.

The cult of Our Lady of Fatima has been taking shape here since the parish was founded, but the statue of Mary in the church dates from the beginning of the present century. It was made by Portuguese artist Alberto Ferreira, whose father created the original Fatima statue. The statue of Our Lady is placed in the chancel, above the main altar, against a background of the so-called 'spinning sun’. The statue was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 2002. Meanwhile, the 'spinning sun' altar, consecrated by Bishop Wiktor Skworzec in 2008, was designed and made by sculptor Kazimierz Klimkiewicz.

Indulgences in the parish and shrine fall on the Sunday after 13 May (Feast of Our Lady of Fatima) and the Sunday after 13 October, as well as on 19 March (Feast of St Joseph).