COVENTRY CATHEDRAL

 

Our initial intention when we visited Coventry was to go to the midday reconciliation service. Unfortunately, road works put paid to that even with our improved city driving skills.

Parking in a multi-storey car park, taking care to remember where the car was, we made our way to the old cathedral. We learnt that it was bombed in 1940 and that the very next day the Provost announced that the Germans should be forgiven and ever since the cathedral has used itself as a power to reconcile. The idea so early in the second world war to forgive must have been so brave at the time. As I write this Iran has sent drones over Israel who have now retaliated back. We do not seem to learn from history.

The bombed-out cathedral stands as a shell with a cross at what would have been an altar with the words Father Forgive behind it. Moving.

The new cathedral stands at right angles to this. I was not sure how I would feel about a “new” cathedral but as we walked through the glass entrance, awe and wonder took over. There was a huge space but a connection with God in it. The welcome notice should be in front of all churches.

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The Cathedral is free to enter, has toilets but no café as there are plenty nearby, even some dog friendly ones.

On the walls were quotations from the Bible on enormous stone tablets instead of memorials to the good and the great as is usual in other cathedrals.

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At the altar is a cross topped with a small cross made from medieval nails found in the rubble of the old cathedral. Coventry has strong links with Dresden and Berlin founding the Community of the Cross of Nails which guided by the words Father Forgive prays the Litany of Reconciliation with partners across the world regularly.

On the walls behind the altar is a tapestry where most cathedrals have stained glass. This enormous tapestry is of Jesus, Christ in Glory. It is huge! It was designed by Graham Sutherland and made in France. I have been lent a meditation on it to understand it.

The font is a bit more obvious, made from a Bethlehem boulder, donated by Jordan situated next to some beautiful stained-glass windows.

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Indeed, many features have been donated by other countries such as the Swedish mosaics in the Chapel near the entrance.

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We left the cathedral to walk part of the Peace Trail, taking in the status of Lady Godiva, an early adopter of Social Justice.

Leaving the dogs in the car we returned to the cathedral for evening prayer. Dean John took the service and was generous with his welcome. The Cathedral Staff are well versed in the whole Palestinian Situation.

Coventry should be a symbol and leader for the world. From its welcome notice to its magnificent interior it says “Come here and Reconcile”

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Oh, how we need it even more now.

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