By Angela Youngman
Ever since Coventry’s destruction in the Second World War, its cathedral has been a centre for reconciliation.
The city, which was a centre for munitions and metal factories, was bombed many times by the Luftwaffe, the most devastating raids taking place on the night of 14 November 1940, when more than 550 people were killed, 4,300 homes were destroyed, and about two-thirds of the city’s buildings damaged, including St Michael’s, a 14th-century church that had been designated a cathedral in1918.
Reconciliation began within hours of the bombing. The morning after, the Rev Arthur Wales picked up three medieval carpenters’ nails within the ruins and used wire to bind them into a cross that immediately became a symbol of suffering and hope. On the same day, the cathedral’s provost, Richard Howard, wrote “Father Forgive” — Christ’s words from the cross — on a charred wall.
A few weeks later, on Christmas Day, Howard stated during a BBC service that it was important to work with our enemies to “build a kinder, more Christ-like world”.
By building a new cathedral — consecrated in 1962 — next to the ruins of the old one, the message of reconciliation is permanently present. Crosses made from nails found in the cathedral ruins have been presented to churches around the world, with the first going to St Nikolai Church in Kiel, northern Germany, in 1947.
In 1976, the recipients of the Cross of Nails formed an ecumenical Community of the Cross of Nails.
To mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day on 8 May, the Dean of Coventry, John Witcombe, is in Berlin for a service in the cathedral’s partner church, the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, where he will introduce the Coventry Litany, a prayer focusing on forgiveness and reconciliation.
And at 6.30pm on Thursday, the Coventry bells will ring as part of a national co-ordinated VE Day bellringer event.
For many years, the cathedral has appointed canons of reconciliation to further its work on peace. In 2021, this role was widened to include art, recognising a growing awareness that the themes of art and reconciliation had been working on parallel tracks.
The latest, Kate Massey, becomes Canon for arts and reconciliation next month. She was ordained at Coventry Cathedral in 2011 after a career as doctor in the NHS, specialising in mental health and psychiatry.
The cathedral possesses an extensive art collection, including Christ in Glory in the Tetramorph, the large tapestry at the north end by Graham Sutherland, and St Michael’s Victory over the Devil, the 1958 bronze sculpture by Jacob Epstein on the east wall.
Using art to develop and encourage reconciliation is important, Canon Massey says: “Art helps the understanding of peace and reconciliation. It gives us access to the lived experience of others through art, music or writing, which helps those who have not had that lived experience to understand. It is personal and moving.”
As part of Canon Massey’s research for a PhD, she explored how the church used reconciliation within its own conflicts and how it has influenced many leaders. She looks forward to exploring “ways to heal the wounds of history, celebrate difference and build a culture of justice and peace”.
With VE Day celebrations under way, she speaks of a poignant moment in her family’s wartime history. “I asked my grandmother once, ‘what did you do on that first VE Day?’ She said she went to her grandmother’s and found her in the kitchen crying for all that we had lost, the costs of war and the losses that had occurred everywhere.
“As we celebrate VE Day, we have to remember all those who were involved.”
In an increasingly polarised world, she believes that Coventry’s vocation of reconciliation is timelier than ever. “Coventry Cathedral has links with the Holy Land and many other countries. We have been involved in many divided areas of war including Ukraine and Palestine.
“Pope Francis once said that it was important to stress weapons of peace, not weapons of war. Coventry has that commitment to searching for peace and reconciliation, helping communities explore what will happen when peace arrives. It is easy to lose sight of this.
“The most challenging part of my role is to encourage reconciliation in an increasingly diverse world. It is like holding a candle in a hurricane and hoping we will be heard, acting as witness to reconciliation and the grace of God.”
