Charles Bulfinch designed New North Church (his only surviving Boston church) as an urban congregational meetinghouse. Rectangular in plan, the brick building is fronted by a projecting three-bay pavilion surmounted by an open belfry. The Corinthian on Doric colonnades that support the balconies and ceiling enliven the low-arched plain interior. In 1862, the Roman Catholic diocese purchased the building and renamed it St. Stephen's Church, reflecting the demographic change of Irish Catholics flooding into the North End. Altered, moved, and repaired on many occasions, the current structure is the result of a 1964–1965 restoration sponsored by Richard Cardinal Cushing.