Holy Family Cathedral, Kuwait, Catholic cathedral in Kuwait City, Kuwait
The Holy Family Co-Cathedral is a Catholic church in the Qibla area, on the east side of Kuwait City. It was designed by architect Emilio Tenca; the first stone was laid on 27 January 1957 and the building was consecrated on 16 March 1961. Inside is a statue of Our Lady of Arabia, a smaller replica of the 1949 cedar statue kept in the Catholic church in Ahmadi.
The cathedral was built on land given by the Kuwaiti government, with construction starting in 1956 and the building consecrated in 1961. This made it one of the first Catholic churches established in modern Kuwait.
Masses at the cathedral are held in several languages, including Bengali, Hindi, Korean, Arabic, Tamil, and Konkani, reflecting the origins of the congregation. This variety is noticeable from one service to the next, with different songs, prayers, and familiar faces gathering in the same space.
The cathedral is open to visitors during services, so checking the schedule in advance helps avoid arriving during a ceremony. Modest dress is expected out of respect for those attending.
The cedar statue of Our Lady of Arabia was enshrined in Ahmadi in 1949; the copy kept here is smaller. The church was renamed a co-cathedral after the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia opened in Bahrain, which took over as the bishop's seat in 2012.
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