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The Cathedral Parish

The Parish

Parishioners at Mass

Behind the imposing façade of Westminster Cathedral and its reputation for splendid music and liturgy lies a busy and active parish.

The parish boundaries are not extensive, but they enclose Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, the Churchill Estate and much more. Our thousands of parishioners represent a variety of languages, customs and professions.

From first light until evening the Cathedral is a house of prayer. There are always people quietly engaged in prayer especially in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, the Lady Chapel and the Chapel of the Sacred Heart. There are regular prayer groups that reflect the deep spiritual life of our parish community. To mention a few: the Guild of the Blessed Sacrament, the Divine Mercy Prayer Group, the Rosary Group, the Guild of St. Anthony, a weekly Charismatic Prayer meeting and several Bible Study groups.

Our visitors never fail to notice two characteristics of Westminster Cathedral: the regular celebration of Mass and the daily queues for Confession. People come from near and far to make their Confession here, knowing that there is usually a priest on duty, and the Chaplains have a good name for being welcoming and compassionate.

The daily smooth running of the Cathedral depends heavily on volunteers who give generously of their time, energy and skills to support our many activities. You can find out more about volunteering elsewhere in this website, the weekly newsletter and in Oremus, the Cathedral’s monthly magazine. You may also be interested in joining the Friends of Westminster Cathedral.

As a result, you will discover that there is always much more to the life of the Cathedral Parish than a casual visitor can possibly realise. But it is all there to be discovered.