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Coventry Cathedral

I spent the Fall 2008 semester abroad in the UK with twenty-five other students and two professors. We did our coursework on the road, traveling to various cities while studying the literature and drama of each region.

One Sunday, we visited Coventry Cathedral, which has a painful, but beautiful, history. Bombs during WWII destroyed the cathedral along with much of the town. The next morning, people decided to rebuild the cathedral next to the ruins, which are still present today.

The new cathedral’s modern, artistic building and angled stained-glass panes contrast the rubble next door. The two stand side-by-side as symbols of the cathedral’s Ministry of Peace and Reconciliation. A local priest made a cross out of three nails from the cathedral’s roof, copies of which were given to several churches in Germany and, later, churches around the world as a movement to promote forgiveness across state borders.

The service in the new cathedral was powerful, but the image I took away from Coventry stood in the ruins. During the reconstruction, a stonemason noticed two pieces of the roof had fallen in the shape of a cross. Now, that cross stands atop an altar in front of the inscribed words, “Father, Forgive.” This community united in love instead of bitterness, acknowledging the evils of war while spreading the hope of peace.