Liverpool, England

Considered together, the two eye-popping cathedrals in this city known best as the “birthplace of the Beatles” stand as a testament not only to the scope of human ingenuity but also to the strength of Christian spirituality.

And this would be a good year to see them, as Liverpool is one of the European Capitals of Culture for 2008.

If you happen to be in town this coming weekend you might start with a Mother’s Day walk along the avenue connecting the two giant structures. It’s called Hope Street — an apt name since one cathedral is Catholic and the other is Protestant (Anglican, to be precise).

The Catholic edifice, the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King (usually shortened to Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral), was built during the 1960s. This is apparent from its modernistic design. Yet ideas for its construction had been around for at least a century before the first stone was set.

The Church first commissioned the building of a cathedral here in 1853. The contract went to Edward Pugin (1833-75). He was the son of Augustus Pugin, the renowned co-designer of the Houses of Parliament in London.

The initial plan called for erecting the cathedral on the grounds of a seminary at one of the older mansions in Liverpool, San Domingo House, which stood on a ridge in the Everton district.

Within three years the first part of Pugin’s design, The Lady Chapel, had been built. But as Liverpool’s Catholic population increased, the diocese’s priorities changed. Schools and orphanages became more important than the cathedral. The Lady Chapel stood in splendid isolation and served as the parish church of Our Lady Immaculate until it was demolished in the 1980s.

It wasn’t until the late 1920s that a combination of factors — the charismatic Archbishop Richard Downey, a renewed enthusiasm for a center of worship due to the centenary of Catholic emancipation, and the availability of a suitable site at the top of Brownlow Hill — convinced people that the dream of a Catholic cathedral should be revived.

Sir Edwin Lutyens, famous for his construction of The Cenotaph at Whitehall, in London, and the government buildings in New Delhi, India, was entrusted with the task. On June 5, 1933, the foundation stone of the cathedral was laid. At the suggestion of Pope Pius XI, the building was to be dedicated to Christ the King.

Long Time Coming

The pièce de résistance of Lutyens’ design was a dome 168 feet in diameter and 300 feet tall. The high altar was to rise 12 feet above the nave and would be one of 53 altars in total. Lutyens also wanted a narthex at the western end of his cathedral that would be open to the poor 24 hours a day.

Then came World War II. Construction came to a halt. In 1944, Lutyens died.

After the war the cathedral crypt was completed, a significant achievement in its own right, but escalating building costs meant that Lutyens’ grand design had to be scaled back. The ideas of Adrian Gilbert Scott for changing Lutyens’ design met with heavy criticism and the project was again put on hold.

That changed with the appointment of Archbishop John Heenan to the Liverpool see. The archbishop decided that a competition should take place. So, in 1960, architects were invited to submit designs for a Catholic cathedral for Liverpool — one that would complement the existing crypt, cost no more than a million pounds, and come to completion within five years.

The winning design, selected from hundreds that came in from all over the world, was the brainchild of Sir Frederick Gibberd. Building began in October 1962 and on May 14, 1967, the cathedral was consecrated.

In a neat closing of the circle, the papal legate at the consecration was now-Cardinal Heenan. Liverpool’s wait for a catholic cathedral was over.

The Anglican cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool, is the largest of its kind in Europe. Its castle-like bearing and setting on a mount make it a favorite for photographers.

The structure was made of sandstone quarried from the Liverpool suburb of Woolton. The bells weigh more than 31 tons. The 67-meter high organ is the largest in a working church in the world and has over 10,000 pipes.

In 1903 Giles Gilbert Scott was commissioned to design the cathedral, beating out some better-established competition. Scott, a Catholic, was a student, so the construction began with him being supervised by George Bodley, who had judged the initial designs. Scott wasn’t pleased to be dealt with in this manner.

Bodley died in 1907 and, after the Lady Chapel was completed in 1910, Scott had the self-confidence to submit a new design. It was accepted. When the altar was completed in 1924, the cathedral was consecrated.

The 100-meter tower was finished in 1942.

Nowhere does ecclesiastical reconciliation look “so close yet so far” as it does from this vantage point. We can only pray — and, yes, hope — that, on Hope Street, God has some revival of reversion in store.

Julian Worker writes from

New Westminster, British Columbia.

Planning Your Visit

While strolling Hope Street, be sure to check out the Philharmonic Hall, home of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. The original building opened in 1849 and the acoustics were described as the best in Europe. The present art-deco hall opened in 1939; its orchestra gives 70-plus concerts here each year. Classic films are screened on the hall’s unique Walturdaw cinema screen, which rises from under the stage.

Metropolitan Cathedral (Catholic)

Mount Pleasant Liverpool, L3 5TQ, United Kingdom

Phone: +44 151 707 2107

Web: liverpoolmetrocathedral.org.uk

Cathedral Church of Christ (Anglican)

liverpoolcathedral.org.uk