The most prestigious higher education institution allied to the Catholic Church in Britain is to shut its doors after 400 years. The move raises profound questions about the future of the order’s role in education in the UK Kensington Square is one of London’s smartest addresses. Just off the noisy, congested thoroughfare of Kensington High Street, the houses in this tucked-away corner of the capital are homes to the very rich. But the biggest building of all has housed for the best part of a quarter-century what was once the academic powerhouse of the Catholic Church in this country: Heythrop College. Last summer the college hosted one of its biggest gatherings. Hundreds of guests, including college staff, former students, senior church officials and academics from other ins