If we had to make distinction, which is greater, faith or hope? [Catholic Perspective] I assume the existence of God a priori.

I am looking for an answer from a Catholic perspective.
According to the well respected Catholic theologian St. Thomas Aquinas faith is greater than hope in a number of ways:


Faith makes God present to the intellect; hope makes God present to the will.  Since the inclination of the will follows upon the apprehension of the intellect, faith precedes hope (ST IIae IIae, Q 4, A 7).
Faith makes hope possible (ST IIae IIae, Q 17, A 7).
Given Thomas' argumentation in ST IIae IIae, Q 17, A 8 it is possible to infer that faith precedes hope in the order of perfection (given the fact that he does not make the same two-fold distinction in article 7 that he does in article 8).


Hopefully this is helpful to you.  The question is difficult because faith and hope are closely connected and both are important.