Catholics first appeared in Kazan in the 18th century, mainly consisting of immigrants from Germany and the Baltic states. In 1835, a permanent Catholic parish was established in the city, served by Polish priests. Due to the lack of a dedicated church, services were held in various buildings around the city, and the parish often changed its location.

In 1855, priest Ostián Galimsky submitted a request for the construction of a Catholic church, citing a significant increase in the number of parishioners. Two years later, permission was granted for construction on the condition that the church's exterior would not stand out among the surrounding buildings. The construction of the stone church, designed by A. I. Peske, began in 1855, and the consecration took place on November 1, 1858, in honor of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

According to the 1897 census, there were 1,591 men and 433 women of the Catholic faith living in the Kazan province, with 1,760 of them in Kazan. Among the parishioners were notable figures such as linguist N. V. Krushevsky and orientalist O. M. Kovalevsky, as well as several professors from Kazan University.

After the issuance of Nicholas II's decree in 1905 "On Strengthening the Principles of Religious Tolerance," which lifted restrictions on the appearance of non-Orthodox churches, the Kazan Catholic church was expanded and rebuilt. The reconstruction project was developed by provincial engineer L. K. Khreshonovich, and the exterior of the building was significantly altered. On September 14, 1908, the church was reopened and consecrated. At the same time, a parish school was opened at the church.

After the establishment of Soviet power, the parish continued to operate for some time, but in 1921, all valuables were removed from the church to assist the starving in the Volga region. In 1927, the church was closed, and the parish was dissolved.

After a period of neglect, the church building was transferred to the laboratories of Kazan State Technical University named after A. N. Tupolev, and an aerodynamic tunnel was placed in the central nave.

The Catholic parish in Kazan was restored and registered in 1995. The historic church building was not returned to the Catholics; instead, the city authorities handed them a small chapel of the "Passion of the Lord" at the Arskoye cemetery, which was restored with the support of Catholic parishes from several countries. The chapel was consecrated in September 1998 by Bishop Clemens Pickel.

Due to the complexity of relocating the aerodynamic tunnel from the historic church, in 1999, the Kazan mayor's office decided to allocate a plot in the city center at the intersection of Ostrovsky and Aydinova streets for the construction of a new church. After several delays, construction began in 2005, and the mass for the consecration of the cornerstone took place on September 11, 2005.

Construction lasted three years, and on August 29, 2008, the solemn consecration of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross took place. The mass was led by Dean of the College of Cardinals Angelo Sodano, assisted by Bishop Clemens Pickel, nuncio Antonio Mennini, and other bishops and priests. The consecration of the church took place exactly 150 years after the consecration of the first Catholic church in Kazan. The priests of the Society of the Incarnate Word serve in the church. As of 2020, the rector is Father Andrei Starcev, and the vicar priest is Father Danilo Magela.