Ukrainian Catholic Church of St Wolodymyr the Great, Broad Street, Foleshill, Coventry

Image: © A J Paxton Taken: 26 Aug 2021

This church building opened in 1962 and stands on the site of a Wesleyan chapel that was built in 1839 and destroyed in the second world war. After 1945 the Methodists built on its site a wooden chapel which may form the basis of the current building; see the Victoria County History of Warwickshire Vol 8 pp382-396 https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol8/pp382-396#h3-0017 . Ukrainians settled in Coventry during and after the second world war, driven from their homeland by war and political persecution. Many were Catholics of the eastern or Byzantine rite, in communion with the Roman Catholic Church but worshipping according to a liturgy much closer to that of the Orthodox Church. Masses according to this rite were celebrated in Catholic parish churches in Coundon and later Foleshill until this church was built (ibid. pp368-371 https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol8/pp368-371 ) St Wolodymyr is better known in the west by the Russian form of his name, Vladimir. He was a pagan ruler of Kyivan Rus', which encompassed peoples living in parts of what is now Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. His conversion to Christianity in the year 988 led to their becoming Christians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_the_Great

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