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AIR-RAID SIREN WAILS | 0:00:03 | 0:00:05 | |
The 14th of November 1940, is a date one city will never forget. | 0:00:07 | 0:00:13 | |
That night, 568 people lost their lives and many more their homes. | 0:00:13 | 0:00:20 | |
I'm standing in the centre of Coventry | 0:00:24 | 0:00:27 | |
in a spire which is all that remains of a huge medieval cathedral | 0:00:27 | 0:00:32 | |
destroyed during the Second World War | 0:00:32 | 0:00:34 | |
in one devastating air raid | 0:00:34 | 0:00:36 | |
that the perpetrators called "Moonlight Sonata". | 0:00:36 | 0:00:39 | |
It was the spirit of our forefathers that built that grand building. | 0:00:43 | 0:00:46 | |
I believe that that spirit is with us still | 0:00:46 | 0:00:49 | |
and will help us to rebuild it one day | 0:00:49 | 0:00:52 | |
when we have served and suffered a while...a little longer. | 0:00:52 | 0:00:55 | |
And built again it was, | 0:00:57 | 0:00:58 | |
to rise in glory 22 years after those words were spoken. | 0:00:58 | 0:01:05 | |
Tonight, we celebrate the golden jubilee | 0:01:07 | 0:01:09 | |
of the cathedral still known today as the new Coventry Cathedral. | 0:01:09 | 0:01:14 | |
And we find out | 0:01:14 | 0:01:16 | |
how a building conceived in the darkest days of the Second World War | 0:01:16 | 0:01:20 | |
became an international symbol of peace and reconciliation. | 0:01:20 | 0:01:23 | |
Over now to Richard Dimbleby at Coventry. | 0:01:30 | 0:01:33 | |
There has been a Christian church dedicated to St Michael... | 0:01:33 | 0:01:37 | |
50 years ago, on the 25th of May, 1962, | 0:01:37 | 0:01:41 | |
the new cathedral of Coventry | 0:01:41 | 0:01:44 | |
was consecrated in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen. | 0:01:44 | 0:01:47 | |
Open the doors. | 0:01:47 | 0:01:49 | |
75,000 people applied for tickets to be at the consecration | 0:01:51 | 0:01:55 | |
because Coventry's story | 0:01:55 | 0:01:56 | |
had caught the imagination of the whole country - | 0:01:56 | 0:01:59 | |
in fact, the whole world. | 0:01:59 | 0:02:02 | |
Now you will see the bishop going in procession | 0:02:02 | 0:02:05 | |
down the nave of the cathedral to the crossing. | 0:02:05 | 0:02:09 | |
At the crossing, he will trace, with his staff, | 0:02:09 | 0:02:12 | |
the Greek letters already placed there in bronze, | 0:02:12 | 0:02:15 | |
the letters, chi rho, | 0:02:15 | 0:02:17 | |
the first and second letters of the word Cristeo Christus. | 0:02:17 | 0:02:20 | |
We used to go to the cathedral regularly | 0:04:52 | 0:04:55 | |
because my father was a chorister | 0:04:55 | 0:04:58 | |
and we were told to stand very still | 0:04:58 | 0:05:00 | |
and we mustn't smile or nod at Daddy because he was in the choir. | 0:05:00 | 0:05:05 | |
They walked down with their books in front of them, very solemn, | 0:05:05 | 0:05:09 | |
but as he got to us, he used to wink. | 0:05:09 | 0:05:12 | |
On the night of the air raid, Betty was an evacuee, | 0:05:13 | 0:05:16 | |
living 25 miles away in Fenny Compton. | 0:05:16 | 0:05:21 | |
The whole sky was lit up. | 0:05:21 | 0:05:23 | |
The dear old soul that we lodged with said, | 0:05:23 | 0:05:27 | |
"ain't nobody going to be able to live in that." | 0:05:27 | 0:05:30 | |
And went to bed! | 0:05:30 | 0:05:32 | |
I was ten years old, so I obviously thought that I was an orphan - | 0:05:32 | 0:05:37 | |
it was that bad. | 0:05:37 | 0:05:38 | |
The next day, I did go | 0:05:40 | 0:05:42 | |
and meet all the trains that came in to Fenny Compton station. | 0:05:42 | 0:05:47 | |
On the last train, the station master said to me, | 0:05:47 | 0:05:51 | |
"My dear, they won't come down." | 0:05:51 | 0:05:55 | |
So I walked rather dejectedly, thinking, | 0:05:55 | 0:05:57 | |
I don't know what quite's going to happen. | 0:05:57 | 0:06:00 | |
On the way, I saw somebody with one of those little pencil torches | 0:06:00 | 0:06:06 | |
and there was a man's voice and a child's voice | 0:06:06 | 0:06:09 | |
and it was my father and our John, so I wasn't an orphan after all! | 0:06:09 | 0:06:14 | |
From her father, Betty learned about the devastation of Coventry. | 0:06:16 | 0:06:20 | |
Because my father was an assistant organist at the cathedral | 0:06:20 | 0:06:25 | |
and also a member of the choir and a lovely bass, he was, | 0:06:25 | 0:06:29 | |
he went up to the place where there had been his organ. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:33 | |
There was nothing but a pile of rubble. | 0:06:33 | 0:06:36 | |
He found a little bit of iron and picked it up and wept. | 0:06:36 | 0:06:40 | |
Obviously, as Christians, you are taught that you don't take revenge, | 0:06:43 | 0:06:49 | |
but I'm sure that the prevalent feeling, | 0:06:49 | 0:06:52 | |
both in Coventry and other places, they wanted revenge. | 0:06:52 | 0:06:56 | |
NEWSREEL: The cities of Great Britain salute their brothers | 0:06:56 | 0:07:00 | |
in this hour of tribulation, but not defeat. | 0:07:00 | 0:07:03 | |
"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." | 0:07:03 | 0:07:08 | |
Dick Howard was the Provost of the bombed cathedral. | 0:07:10 | 0:07:14 | |
He had a very different message from the newsreels. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:18 | |
What we want to tell the world is this - we are trying, | 0:07:18 | 0:07:21 | |
hard as it may be, to banish all thoughts of revenge... | 0:07:21 | 0:07:26 | |
For anybody to start saying, "we must forgive" | 0:07:26 | 0:07:31 | |
was just so alien at that time, because everything we did, | 0:07:31 | 0:07:38 | |
everything we thought about was how to win the war. | 0:07:38 | 0:07:41 | |
But that was his message | 0:07:41 | 0:07:44 | |
and, of course, a lot of the peace work that the cathedral still does started with him. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:50 | |
He was such a wonderful man. | 0:07:50 | 0:07:52 | |
We're going to try and make a kinder, simpler, | 0:07:52 | 0:07:57 | |
a more Christ-child like sort of world | 0:07:57 | 0:07:59 | |
in the days beyond this strike. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:01 | |
# Thou wilt keep him | 0:08:05 | 0:08:10 | |
# In perfect peace | 0:08:10 | 0:08:16 | |
# Whose mind is stayed | 0:08:16 | 0:08:22 | |
# On Thee | 0:08:22 | 0:08:29 | |
# The darkness is no darkness with Thee | 0:08:29 | 0:08:39 | |
# But the night is as clear as the day | 0:08:39 | 0:08:48 | |
# The darkness and | 0:08:48 | 0:08:53 | |
# The light to thee | 0:08:53 | 0:08:57 | |
# To thee | 0:08:57 | 0:09:01 | |
# Are both alike | 0:09:01 | 0:09:08 | |
# To thee | 0:09:08 | 0:09:12 | |
# Are both alike | 0:09:12 | 0:09:18 | |
# God is light | 0:09:20 | 0:09:24 | |
# And in Him is like | 0:09:24 | 0:09:31 | |
# God is light | 0:09:34 | 0:09:40 | |
# There is no darkness at all | 0:09:40 | 0:09:45 | |
# Oh, let my soul live | 0:09:45 | 0:09:50 | |
# Oh, let my soul live | 0:09:50 | 0:09:58 | |
# And it shall praise | 0:09:58 | 0:10:02 | |
# For thine is the kingdom | 0:10:02 | 0:10:10 | |
# The power and the glory | 0:10:10 | 0:10:15 | |
# For thine is the kingdom | 0:10:15 | 0:10:21 | |
# The power and the glory | 0:10:21 | 0:10:26 | |
# Forever | 0:10:26 | 0:10:31 | |
# And ever | 0:10:31 | 0:10:34 | |
# Forever more | 0:10:34 | 0:10:40 | |
# Thou wilt keep him | 0:10:41 | 0:10:48 | |
# In perfect peace | 0:10:48 | 0:10:53 | |
# Whose mind is stayed | 0:10:53 | 0:11:01 | |
# Whose mind is stayed | 0:11:01 | 0:11:05 | |
# On thee | 0:11:05 | 0:11:09 | |
# Is stayed | 0:11:09 | 0:11:17 | |
# On Thee. # | 0:11:19 | 0:11:26 | |
Architect Sir Basil Spence was chosen to design the new cathedral | 0:11:33 | 0:11:39 | |
from 200 entries in an international competition. | 0:11:39 | 0:11:42 | |
The day at the consecration was a proud moment | 0:11:45 | 0:11:48 | |
for Sir Basil's daughter, Gillian. | 0:11:48 | 0:11:51 | |
Do you think that the cathedral itself | 0:11:51 | 0:11:55 | |
is an expression of your father's own faith? | 0:11:55 | 0:11:57 | |
Yes, I do think so, very strongly. | 0:11:57 | 0:12:00 | |
I think he'd been through the war and everything, | 0:12:00 | 0:12:03 | |
and he'd just felt that this was a time for rebuilding | 0:12:03 | 0:12:06 | |
in every sense of the word. Rebuilding morally, spiritually. | 0:12:06 | 0:12:11 | |
Of course it was replacing this wonderful medieval cathedral | 0:12:11 | 0:12:15 | |
and yet the design was ultra-modern. | 0:12:15 | 0:12:17 | |
What was the reaction to that? | 0:12:17 | 0:12:19 | |
Well, it was very mixed and the problem was | 0:12:19 | 0:12:22 | |
what they showed first were the cathedral competition drawings. | 0:12:22 | 0:12:26 | |
Now, these are architect's drawings | 0:12:26 | 0:12:28 | |
and they're very difficult to understand. | 0:12:28 | 0:12:31 | |
Anthony Blee was Sir Basil's assistant. He believes that | 0:12:33 | 0:12:37 | |
one of the architect's greatest achievements | 0:12:37 | 0:12:40 | |
was to keep all of the old cathedral ruins as part of the new design | 0:12:40 | 0:12:43 | |
and to link them through an ancient pedestrian right of way. | 0:12:43 | 0:12:47 | |
By doing that, he almost encouraged people to enter the cathedral | 0:12:49 | 0:12:53 | |
before they even knew they were there, | 0:12:53 | 0:12:55 | |
because suddenly you're confronted by this great west screen in glass. | 0:12:55 | 0:13:00 | |
Spiritually you enter the building at that point. | 0:13:02 | 0:13:05 | |
So that was an act of genius, I think, to do that. | 0:13:05 | 0:13:08 | |
The other remarkable thing was that the art is not applied afterwards | 0:13:11 | 0:13:16 | |
as a bolt-on goodie, but an integral part | 0:13:16 | 0:13:18 | |
of the concept of the design right from the start. | 0:13:18 | 0:13:21 | |
And that's terribly important. | 0:13:21 | 0:13:24 | |
John Piper's Baptistery window, the knave windows, | 0:13:24 | 0:13:28 | |
the Sutherland tapestry, the Epstein sculpture of St Michael. | 0:13:28 | 0:13:32 | |
But you two have another very special reason | 0:13:46 | 0:13:49 | |
for being particularly fond of Coventry Cathedral, don't you? | 0:13:49 | 0:13:53 | |
Yes, we do, yes, we do, because we were married there. | 0:13:53 | 0:13:56 | |
-The cathedral wasn't finished. -No. | 0:13:57 | 0:14:01 | |
The walls were half built and it was a very cold, misty February day. | 0:14:01 | 0:14:06 | |
And I had a lilac dress, long, | 0:14:06 | 0:14:08 | |
which dragged across the mud and the puddles. | 0:14:08 | 0:14:12 | |
But it was a consecrated chapel | 0:14:12 | 0:14:15 | |
and we thought this would be the most wonderful place to be married. | 0:14:15 | 0:14:19 | |
When your father saw the cathedral finished, | 0:14:21 | 0:14:24 | |
was he happy with his work? | 0:14:24 | 0:14:26 | |
I think he was very happy. | 0:14:26 | 0:14:28 | |
It was very true to its time, that design, | 0:14:28 | 0:14:31 | |
and that's why it is so strong, I think, | 0:14:31 | 0:14:35 | |
because it radiates the faith and the power | 0:14:35 | 0:14:38 | |
and the optimism of that age. | 0:14:38 | 0:14:43 | |
People have described it as a kind of resurrection. | 0:14:43 | 0:14:45 | |
Well, it was, it was a phoenix from the ashes. | 0:14:45 | 0:14:49 | |
Literally from the ashes of the old cathedral. | 0:14:49 | 0:14:51 | |
Over the last 50 years, Coventry Cathedral has developed | 0:16:51 | 0:16:54 | |
an international reputation for its work towards peace. | 0:16:54 | 0:16:59 | |
This has led to the creation of a unique role. | 0:16:59 | 0:17:02 | |
David Porter is the current Canon Director for Reconciliation. | 0:17:02 | 0:17:06 | |
So is reconciliation actually possible? | 0:17:08 | 0:17:11 | |
I think some of the things people look on as reconciliation are very simplistic - | 0:17:11 | 0:17:15 | |
if you do that and you do that and say this | 0:17:15 | 0:17:18 | |
and relate in that way, then we're all reconciled. | 0:17:18 | 0:17:20 | |
And I think sometimes that's just a load of tosh. | 0:17:20 | 0:17:23 | |
I think reconciliation is a hard journey and even when we do | 0:17:23 | 0:17:27 | |
get moments of reconciliation they can easily evaporate. | 0:17:27 | 0:17:30 | |
If you are constantly working for peace, | 0:17:30 | 0:17:32 | |
does that mean that you are a pacifist? | 0:17:32 | 0:17:35 | |
No, I'm not a pacifist. | 0:17:35 | 0:17:37 | |
I'm not far off it, but when you consider the injustices of our world | 0:17:37 | 0:17:40 | |
and the bullies that there are who only understand a punch in the nose at times, | 0:17:40 | 0:17:45 | |
I do accept that sometimes violence does need to be used | 0:17:45 | 0:17:48 | |
to protect the defenceless. | 0:17:48 | 0:17:50 | |
But I do think that when we do use violence | 0:17:50 | 0:17:52 | |
we are actually committing sin. | 0:17:52 | 0:17:55 | |
And therefore even after war, we don't come to God, | 0:17:55 | 0:17:58 | |
thanking God for victory, we have to start by asking for forgiveness. | 0:17:58 | 0:18:02 | |
Father, forgive. | 0:18:02 | 0:18:04 | |
We have what is called the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation, | 0:18:06 | 0:18:10 | |
which was written by Joseph Poole who was the first precentor | 0:18:10 | 0:18:13 | |
for the new cathedral, incorporating Provost Howard's | 0:18:13 | 0:18:16 | |
simple statement, "Father, forgive", which acknowledges that | 0:18:16 | 0:18:20 | |
we're all responsible for the mess of our world. | 0:18:20 | 0:18:23 | |
So much of what's remembered here at Coventry | 0:18:24 | 0:18:27 | |
relates back to the Second World War. | 0:18:27 | 0:18:29 | |
Now, many would say, that's 70 years ago, isn't it time to move on? | 0:18:29 | 0:18:33 | |
At one level it is, | 0:18:33 | 0:18:34 | |
but then the reconciliation that | 0:18:34 | 0:18:37 | |
Coventry has had with Germany and has taken a lead in | 0:18:37 | 0:18:40 | |
is the hope that we offer to the world, | 0:18:40 | 0:18:42 | |
because if Germany and England can be reconciled, | 0:18:42 | 0:18:45 | |
after what we did to each other from 1914 right through to 1945, | 0:18:45 | 0:18:50 | |
then there is no conflict in our world today that can't be reconciled | 0:18:50 | 0:18:54 | |
and that there isn't hope for. | 0:18:54 | 0:18:56 | |
As an expression of the love, joy and peace... | 0:18:57 | 0:19:00 | |
A very special statue was unveiled here at the cathedral recently, | 0:19:00 | 0:19:05 | |
what does it represent? | 0:19:05 | 0:19:08 | |
It is a gift from the Frauenkirche in Dresden | 0:19:08 | 0:19:10 | |
and it is their gift to us to mark | 0:19:10 | 0:19:13 | |
the 50th anniversary of the new cathedral of Coventry. | 0:19:13 | 0:19:17 | |
And so we dedicated to civilian victims of aerial bombing, | 0:19:17 | 0:19:21 | |
and especially the German civilians who died under allied bombing. | 0:19:21 | 0:19:26 | |
For me, one of the signs of reconciliation is when | 0:19:26 | 0:19:28 | |
we have the capacity to memorialise our enemy's sufferings. | 0:19:28 | 0:19:32 | |
This is the first time we've actually done that | 0:19:32 | 0:19:35 | |
on the site here of Coventry Cathedral. | 0:19:35 | 0:19:37 | |
Three medieval nails, | 0:22:16 | 0:22:18 | |
taken from the bombed ruins of the old cathedral, | 0:22:18 | 0:22:21 | |
form the centrepiece of the new cathedral's high altar cross. | 0:22:21 | 0:22:26 | |
This cross of nails has become | 0:22:26 | 0:22:27 | |
the cathedral's international symbol of peace. | 0:22:27 | 0:22:32 | |
Today, there are about 170 Cross of Nails communities around the world, | 0:22:32 | 0:22:37 | |
an international network for peace. | 0:22:37 | 0:22:40 | |
But the cathedral also acknowledges those who go to war on our behalf. | 0:22:40 | 0:22:47 | |
Royal Navy warship HMS Diamond is affiliated to the city of Coventry. | 0:22:47 | 0:22:52 | |
Last year, it was presented with a cross of nails by the cathedral. | 0:22:52 | 0:22:55 | |
Ed Briggs is a serving lieutenant on the Diamond. | 0:22:55 | 0:22:59 | |
I think it's very appropriate that we carry a cross on a warship | 0:23:00 | 0:23:04 | |
as a reminder of that symbol of willing sacrifice | 0:23:04 | 0:23:09 | |
and as a symbol of hope as well. | 0:23:09 | 0:23:12 | |
People do often ask me about how I feel as a Christian, | 0:23:14 | 0:23:20 | |
about being potentially asked to kill. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:24 | |
There is no simple answer. | 0:23:24 | 0:23:25 | |
But every time I'm asked, | 0:23:25 | 0:23:27 | |
I'm forced to think through my reasons again | 0:23:27 | 0:23:32 | |
and I'm reminded of my conviction | 0:23:32 | 0:23:36 | |
that there are some things worth fighting for. | 0:23:36 | 0:23:39 | |
The cliches, I do believe, are true - | 0:23:39 | 0:23:43 | |
that evil will prevail while good men do nothing. | 0:23:43 | 0:23:46 | |
Exactly 30 years ago, it was another warship, HMS Coventry, | 0:23:47 | 0:23:53 | |
which carried the same cross of nails to the Falkland Islands. | 0:23:53 | 0:23:57 | |
Commodore Jamie Miller was working as an interpreter on board. | 0:23:57 | 0:24:01 | |
When we go into a war zone, we prepare the ship for action | 0:24:01 | 0:24:06 | |
and we secure or put away loose articles | 0:24:06 | 0:24:08 | |
that might cause damage if and when we get hit. | 0:24:08 | 0:24:11 | |
The ship's company asked that the cross of nails | 0:24:11 | 0:24:14 | |
was not put away in a safe cupboard | 0:24:14 | 0:24:16 | |
but stayed out as a prominent symbol of hope, defiance, I suppose. | 0:24:16 | 0:24:22 | |
Indeed, many passed it as they went to action stations for the last time. | 0:24:22 | 0:24:26 | |
On 25th May 1982, HMS Coventry was attacked | 0:24:27 | 0:24:31 | |
and sunk with the loss of 19 lives. | 0:24:31 | 0:24:34 | |
Jamie Miller was one of the last to be rescued. | 0:24:36 | 0:24:39 | |
That cross of nails was something I had passed every day | 0:24:39 | 0:24:42 | |
when I girded myself for the next action or next watch. | 0:24:42 | 0:24:45 | |
And it did sustain me, something tangible, and now here it is again, | 0:24:47 | 0:24:51 | |
on a frontline warship, an incredible ship, HMS Diamond. | 0:24:51 | 0:24:55 | |
I'm so glad it's still with us, it's still sustaining a new generation. | 0:24:55 | 0:24:59 | |
Let thine eyes be opened towards this house. | 0:26:41 | 0:26:45 | |
Day and night, hallow this building. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:48 | |
Heavenly Father, thank you for our Golden Jubilee | 0:26:52 | 0:26:56 | |
and for 50 years of proclaiming the forgiveness of Christ. | 0:26:56 | 0:27:01 | |
May the love of the Father continue to draw us to Himself. | 0:27:03 | 0:27:08 | |
# Laudate dominum | 0:27:15 | 0:27:24 | |
# Omnes gentes | 0:27:24 | 0:27:30 | |
# Laudate eum | 0:27:30 | 0:27:38 | |
# Omnes populi | 0:27:38 | 0:27:50 | |
# Quoninam confirmata est | 0:27:51 | 0:27:56 | |
# Super nos misere cordia ejus | 0:27:56 | 0:28:11 | |
# Et veritus, veritus Domini | 0:28:12 | 0:28:23 | |
# Manet, manet in aeternum | 0:28:23 | 0:28:37 | |
# Gloria Patri et Filio | 0:28:37 | 0:28:47 | |
# Et Spiritui Sancto | 0:28:47 | 0:28:53 | |
# Sicut erat in principio | 0:28:53 | 0:29:08 | |
# Et nunc, et semper | 0:29:10 | 0:29:15 | |
# Et in saecula saeculorum | 0:29:15 | 0:29:33 | |
# Amen | 0:29:33 | 0:29:37 | |
# Amen | 0:29:37 | 0:29:44 | |
# Amen | 0:29:44 | 0:29:52 | |
# Amen. # | 0:29:56 | 0:30:00 | |
And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, | 0:30:05 | 0:30:09 | |
the Son and the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore. | 0:30:09 | 0:30:15 | |
-Amen. -Amen. | 0:30:15 | 0:30:17 | |
It would be easy to think that Coventry Cathedral | 0:30:19 | 0:30:22 | |
is defined by that fateful night during the Second World War. | 0:30:22 | 0:30:27 | |
But, of course, there'd been Christian worship on this site | 0:30:27 | 0:30:30 | |
for centuries before that and hopefully, for many years to come. | 0:30:30 | 0:30:34 | |
We are going to finish with a well known hymn | 0:30:34 | 0:30:36 | |
in which the second verse has been given new words | 0:30:36 | 0:30:39 | |
by the Canon Presenter of Coventry Cathedral, David Stone. | 0:30:39 | 0:30:43 | |
Not just to mark this 50th birthday, but the cathedral's unique mission | 0:30:43 | 0:30:47 | |
for peace and reconciliation around the world. | 0:30:47 | 0:30:51 | |
Next week, on Father's Day, Aled will be thinking about | 0:33:31 | 0:33:35 | |
what it takes to make a great dad. | 0:33:35 | 0:33:37 | |
There'll be marvellous music to mark the occasion, | 0:33:37 | 0:33:40 | |
and you never know, he might even get to put his feet up! | 0:33:40 | 0:33:44 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:33:57 | 0:34:00 |