Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family in Exile

The Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family in Exile stands in Mayfair, London, on Duke Street just off Oxford Street. The building was designed in 1891 by Alfred Waterhouse for a Congregational congregation and later adapted for Catholic worship. Its red-brick walls and buff terracotta trim give it a quiet presence among the city’s streets. The oval nave and small south-west tower follow a Romanesque style. A Grade II* listing recognises its architectural importance. The cathedral became the seat of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Eparchy in 1967 after the Congregational church sold the building. Inside, an east window by Robert Anning Bell and a confessional by J. F. Bentley from Westminster Cathedral remain in place. In 2007 part of the ceiling collapsed, but the iconostasis by the Ukrainian monk Juvenalij Mokrytsky survived. In 2013 Pope Benedict XVI raised the exarchate to a full eparchy with a resident bishop. Services are held daily and the cathedral serves as a centre for the British Ukrainian community. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine it hosted speeches by political and religious leaders, including the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK and the All Party Parliamentary Group for Ukraine, invited by Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski. The interior combines Waterhouse’s architecture with Ukrainian iconography, creating a place of worship and gathering.