An international competition was held to design the church, and the design by Michel Andrault and Pierre Parat was selected. The main engineer for construction was Riccardo Morandi. Construction of the shrine began in 1966, but was only complete by 1994. During construction, the foundations were found to contain a crypt, likely a paleo-christian mausoleum, now in the inferior rooms of the church. The building initially was planned to be larger, but at 103 meters high, it was truncated some 30 meters. The church is adjacent to the Catacombs of San Giovanni and the Basilica of San Marziano.

The construction and design of the sanctuary was highly controversial. There are various interpretations of the design, including that it is meant to suggest a giant teardrop impacting the earth. The construction atop an archeologic site required special permission. Others objected to the construction of such a pretentious structure to honor the putative miracle, occurring from August 29 to September 1, 1953, when a plaster icon of the Madonna of the Immaculate Heart was claimed to have shed tears for an indigent local couple, including a fisherman husband. The event was putatively observed by crowds and included even sampling of the chemistry of fluids. The icon was subsequently moved from their abode in via degli Orti here.^[1]

The first stone for construction was consecrated in 1954. In 2002 Pope John Paul II elevated the sanctuary to the status of a minor basilica. In 2019, the Episcopal Conference of Sicily titled it a regional sanctuary.

Atop the dome is a gilded bronze statue of the Madonna in rings with rays, by Francesco Caldarella. The square altar with a bronze base, has four panels depicting scenes from the Apocalyptic visions of the Book of Revelation. The inscription quotes St Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians: Cristo ha amato la Chiesa e ha dato se stesso per lei.^[2]