On 23 August 1884, Bishop Carmelo Scicluna accepted a request to build a new church in Kalkara on a large plot of land donated by the businessman Fortunato Gulia. The population in Kalkara had grown and the Church of the Saviour was too small.

Its first stone was laid on 22 June 1890 by Bishop Carmelo Scicluna. The construction of the church was completed towards the end of the 19th century. On 10 December 1897, the Archbishop of Malta, Mons. Pietru Pace issued the decree stating that Kalkara was now a parish and no longer formed part of the Parish of St Lawrence in Birgu. The new Parish was dedicated to St Joseph.