THE
ORDINARIATE
IN LONDON

The church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory is located on Warwick Street in Soho. It was built in 1789-90 on the site of a Catholic chapel which was pillaged during the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots of 1780, and is attached to a fine house in Golden Square, Soho, built in 1685, now the home of the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

At Easter 2013 the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster put the church in the care of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. The Ordinariate, formed in January 2011, was a personal initiative of Pope Benedict XVI to welcome former Anglicans into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. There are now some 50 Ordinariate groups across Great Britain served by over 80 priests.

The Church in Warwick Street is the central church of the Ordinariate and each Sunday at 10.30am Mass is offered according to the Ordinariate Use, which incorporates elements drawn from the Anglican liturgical tradition.

Visitors to the 10.30am Sunday Mass will be struck especially by the excellence of the singing. The Anglican tradition on which we draw at Warwick Street contains much sublime music and each Sunday our liturgy is enhanced by these Anglican musical settings.

The church is located between Piccadilly Circus and Soho in the heart of London’s West End and remains open throughout the day, offering a welcome and consolation to all: the destitute, the visitor and the local worker alike. The Priest in Charge is Father Mark Elliott Smith.

The Church of the Most Precious Blood is located in a vibrant part of London close to London Bridge, The Shard and Borough Market. The London (South) Ordinariate group, under the leadership of Fr Christopher Pearson, began worshipping in the Church at Easter 2012. In January 2013, Archbishop Peter Smith and Monsignor Keith Newton formalised the arrangement and the parish was placed in the care of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

There is a Mass at 1.05pm each weekday which is popular with people who work in the area. The main Sunday Mass is at 11am with a Vigil Mass on Saturday at 6pm. The Parish is enjoying a period of revitalisation and growth as a result of this unique collaboration between the Archdiocese of Southwark and the Ordinariate.

The church and rectory, designed by Frederick Walters, were built in 1892 and are Grade II listed. The church is a handsome essay in the Romanesque revival style, achieving grandeur in the face of economy. The church has some notable furnishings and is gradually being cleaned, decorated and restored to its former glory. The baldachino is based on the design of the baldachino in the Church of San Giorgio in Velabro in Rome which, by happy coincidence for the Ordinariate, was Blessed John Henry Newman's titular church as a Cardinal.

A newly installed underfloor heating ensures that you will receive a warm welcome!