Catholic University of Portugal

The Catholic University of Portugal, also referred to as Católica or UCP for short, is the only concordatary university (non-state-run university with concordatary status) of the Catholic Church, in Portugal.Although it is just one university, UCP is organized as a university system, made up of four major regional centres: Lisbon (the headquarters), Beiras (Caldas da Rainha and Viseu), Braga, and Porto. These include 18 faculties, schools and institutes, which are the basic education and research units. Besides the four regional centres in Portugal, UCP also has the University of Saint Joseph in Macau as its affiliate.HistoryThe Catholic University of Portugal was established in 1967 by decree of the Holy See (Lusitanorum Nobilissima Gens), at the request of the Portuguese Bishop's conference and under Concordat Law. It was founded in 1967 and gained official recognition in 1971.Its first constituent Faculty was the Jesuit-owned and run Faculty of Philosophy of Braga (Northern Portugal). However, the University was soon extended to Lisbon where it opened, in 1968, the Faculty of Theology and, in 1971, the Faculty of Human Sciences.