A catalyst for selective hydrogenation of acetylenes and diolefins, particularly in a raw gas feed stream for front end selective hydrogenation. The catalyst contains a low surface area carrier with a surface area from about 2-20 m2/g, wherein the pore volume of the pores of the carrier is greater than about 0.4 cc/g, at least 90 percent of the pore volume of the pores is contained within pores having a pore diameter greater than about 500 .ANG. and about 1 to about 2 percent of the total pore volume is contained in pores with a pore diameter from about 500 to about 1,000 .ANG.. The palladium comprises about 0.01 to about 0.1 weight % and a Group IB metal comprises about 0.005 to about 0.06 weight % of the catalyst.