Holy Family Co-Cathedral, formerly known as Holy Family Cathedral, is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

co-cathedral in

Kuwait City Kuwait City ( ar, مدينة الكويت) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economical centre of the emirate, ...

. The church is situated in the east side of Kuwait City, in the Qibla area. The land was donated by the government of

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. Architect Emilio Tenca designed the cathedral, The first stone was laid on January 27, 1957 and the cathedral was consecrated on March 16, 1961. The church contains a statue of

Our Lady of Arabia Our Lady of Arabia (Latin: ''Domina Nostra de Arabia, Regina Pacis'') is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding a Rosary and the Child Jesus as venerated in Kuwait and Bahrain by its faithful devotees. Under this venerated Marian ti ...

, a smaller replica of the 1949 cedar statue enshrined at the Catholic church in

Ahmadi, Kuwait Al Ahmadi ( ar, الأحمدي) is a town founded in 1946 with the discovery of oil there, located in Al Ahmadi Governorate, Kuwait. Al Ahmadi is a district located in the south of the country. It contains the headquarters for the Kuwait National ...

Overview

Until recently, the Holy Family Cathedral was the seat of the bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia. However, with the construction of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia in Bahrain, the Holy Family Cathedral was renamed Holy Family Co-Cathedral. In order to satisfy the 140,000 Catholics residing in Kuwait mass is held at the Cathedral throughout the week in multiple languages, including, English,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

(

Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the larges ...

Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

and Latin), Tagalog, Sinhala,

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

( Syro Malabar, Syro Malankara and Latin),

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

, Konkani and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. In availability of priests, holy mass is also celebrated in Bengali, Hindi and Korean. Sunday is a weekday in Kuwait. Hence, Friday, the Muslim prayer day,is a weekend. Therefore, Sunday masses of the following week are given in advance on the Friday or Saturday of the previous week. Currently, there are eight priests at the Holy Family Cathedral Catechism classes are also offered at the Cathedral, preparing children and teenagers for their

Baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

First Communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin Church tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communi ...

and

Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

. Additionally, Marriage preparation courses are also offered at the Parish.

References

External links

*
Official Youtube Channel
Roman Catholic cathedrals in Kuwait Buildings and structures in Kuwait City Roman Catholic churches completed in 1961 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings 1961 establishments in Kuwait Catholic Church in the Arabian Peninsula {{Kuwait-struct-stub