Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral

With its strongly religious character, Liverpool has not one, but two cathedrals, each as surprising and spectacular as the other. One is the Roman Catholic cathedral you see here and the other is the Anglican cathedral less than a mile down Hope Street. It’s worth remembering that the Roman Catholic Church is a minority in England, where Anglicanism is a state religion. It was Henry VIII, who decided in the 16th century to break away from the Pope, who wouldn’t let him divorce. He then created his own church with the King at its head instead of the Pontiff. The English therefore have a state religion which is Anglicanism, considered to be a compromise between Catholics and Protestants. It’s not a secular country, but freedom of worship is guaranteed to all. The Roman Catholic Church is present, even though it’s greatly outnumbered. Welcome to the strange Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King. Quite a name, right? Christ the King is a Christological concept that gives Jesus the power of kingship over all creation, since God his father created the universe. It is the largest Catholic cathedral in the country and the headquarters of the Diocese of Liverpool. The idea of building a cathedral dedicated to Christ the King was first discussed in the 1850s. However, with war and inflation, the project was delayed for over a century. It was the great-great-grandchildren of those who had come up with the idea who began work on the cathedral in 1960, although not exactly in the style their ancestors would have imagined. The Metropolitan Cathedral was inaugurated seven years later, and since then it has hosted a number of important events, including the visit of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977, that of Pope John Paul II in 1982 and the launching of the Council of the Churches of Great Britain and Ireland in 1990. The church’s bold pyramid-shaped architecture is not necessarily to everyone’s taste, and it was voted 4th ugliest building in the world by readers of the Virtualtourism.com website. For the record, the Montparnasse Tower in Paris came second! Anyway, even if you’re not impressed by the building’s external appearance, this is the ultimate opportunity to see what the interior of a pyramid looks like.