liverpool hope university
Liverpool
Liverpool Hope University pursues a path of excellence in scholarship and
collegial life without reservation or hesitation. The University’s distinctive
philosophy is to ‘educate in the round’ – mind, body and spirit – in the quest
for Truth, Beauty and Goodness. Liverpool Hope University is distinctive in that
it is the only university foundation in Europe (and the USA) where Catholic and
Anglican colleges have come together to form an integrated, ecumenical,
Christian foundation. It has happened in Liverpool and nowhere else in Europe
largely because of the presence in the 1980s of two remarkable church leaders:
Bishop David Sheppard, the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese, and Archbishop Derek
Worlock, the Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese that extends from Liverpool
across the north of England. They confessed their faith to each other and took
their congregations to visit each other’s cathedrals, a symbolic act of
Christians working together in the context of northern Irish religious
sectarianism. When the three colleges (St Katharine’s 1844, Notre Dame College
1856 and Christ’s College 1964) came together the name ‘Hope’ was adopted came
from Hope Street that links both cathedrals - a living parable of what can
happen when Christians unite and work together for the common good. This year we
celebrate 175 years since the founding of our first college in 1844; in that
year there were only six universities in England (two of them medieval) but all
of them did not admit women, Catholics or Jews. The founding colleges of
Liverpool Hope University were among the first few institutions to begin opening
up higher education to the vast majority of England’s population. The Anglican
Bishops of Liverpool, going back to the founding Bishop, Bishop Ryle, were all
evangelicals. The friendship of the Anglican Bishop and the Catholic Archbishop
was largely based on both their sharing of a mutual faith and their commitment
to the poor. This adherence to historic Christian faith remains the university’s
own commitment as it seeks to live out that faith in its life and work in a
secularised British academy. At the beginning of each academic term we hold a
Foundation Service to restate our foundational mission and values. Our
Graduation ceremonies are held in alternating years in both the Anglican and
Catholic Cathedrals in Liverpool.The new name of Liverpool Hope University was
chosen to represent the ecumenical mission of the Institution. Liverpool Hope
University was born in July 2005, when the Privy Council bestowed the right to
use the University title. Research Degree Awarding Powers were granted by the
Privy Council in 2009.
