0:00:03 > 0:00:05AIR-RAID SIREN WAILS
0:00:07 > 0:00:13The 14th of November 1940, is a date one city will never forget.
0:00:13 > 0:00:20That night, 568 people lost their lives and many more their homes.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27I'm standing in the centre of Coventry
0:00:27 > 0:00:32in a spire which is all that remains of a huge medieval cathedral
0:00:32 > 0:00:34destroyed during the Second World War
0:00:34 > 0:00:36in one devastating air raid
0:00:36 > 0:00:39that the perpetrators called "Moonlight Sonata".
0:00:43 > 0:00:46It was the spirit of our forefathers that built that grand building.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49I believe that that spirit is with us still
0:00:49 > 0:00:52and will help us to rebuild it one day
0:00:52 > 0:00:55when we have served and suffered a while...a little longer.
0:00:57 > 0:00:58And built again it was,
0:00:58 > 0:01:05to rise in glory 22 years after those words were spoken.
0:01:07 > 0:01:09Tonight, we celebrate the golden jubilee
0:01:09 > 0:01:14of the cathedral still known today as the new Coventry Cathedral.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16And we find out
0:01:16 > 0:01:20how a building conceived in the darkest days of the Second World War
0:01:20 > 0:01:23became an international symbol of peace and reconciliation.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33Over now to Richard Dimbleby at Coventry.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37There has been a Christian church dedicated to St Michael...
0:01:37 > 0:01:4150 years ago, on the 25th of May, 1962,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44the new cathedral of Coventry
0:01:44 > 0:01:47was consecrated in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49Open the doors.
0:01:51 > 0:01:5575,000 people applied for tickets to be at the consecration
0:01:55 > 0:01:56because Coventry's story
0:01:56 > 0:01:59had caught the imagination of the whole country -
0:01:59 > 0:02:02in fact, the whole world.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05Now you will see the bishop going in procession
0:02:05 > 0:02:09down the nave of the cathedral to the crossing.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12At the crossing, he will trace, with his staff,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15the Greek letters already placed there in bronze,
0:02:15 > 0:02:17the letters, chi rho,
0:02:17 > 0:02:20the first and second letters of the word Cristeo Christus.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55We used to go to the cathedral regularly
0:04:55 > 0:04:58because my father was a chorister
0:04:58 > 0:05:00and we were told to stand very still
0:05:00 > 0:05:05and we mustn't smile or nod at Daddy because he was in the choir.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09They walked down with their books in front of them, very solemn,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12but as he got to us, he used to wink.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16On the night of the air raid, Betty was an evacuee,
0:05:16 > 0:05:21living 25 miles away in Fenny Compton.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23The whole sky was lit up.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27The dear old soul that we lodged with said,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30"ain't nobody going to be able to live in that."
0:05:30 > 0:05:32And went to bed!
0:05:32 > 0:05:37I was ten years old, so I obviously thought that I was an orphan -
0:05:37 > 0:05:38it was that bad.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42The next day, I did go
0:05:42 > 0:05:47and meet all the trains that came in to Fenny Compton station.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51On the last train, the station master said to me,
0:05:51 > 0:05:55"My dear, they won't come down."
0:05:55 > 0:05:57So I walked rather dejectedly, thinking,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00I don't know what quite's going to happen.
0:06:00 > 0:06:06On the way, I saw somebody with one of those little pencil torches
0:06:06 > 0:06:09and there was a man's voice and a child's voice
0:06:09 > 0:06:14and it was my father and our John, so I wasn't an orphan after all!
0:06:16 > 0:06:20From her father, Betty learned about the devastation of Coventry.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25Because my father was an assistant organist at the cathedral
0:06:25 > 0:06:29and also a member of the choir and a lovely bass, he was,
0:06:29 > 0:06:33he went up to the place where there had been his organ.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36There was nothing but a pile of rubble.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40He found a little bit of iron and picked it up and wept.
0:06:43 > 0:06:49Obviously, as Christians, you are taught that you don't take revenge,
0:06:49 > 0:06:52but I'm sure that the prevalent feeling,
0:06:52 > 0:06:56both in Coventry and other places, they wanted revenge.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00NEWSREEL: The cities of Great Britain salute their brothers
0:07:00 > 0:07:03in this hour of tribulation, but not defeat.
0:07:03 > 0:07:08"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."
0:07:10 > 0:07:14Dick Howard was the Provost of the bombed cathedral.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18He had a very different message from the newsreels.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21What we want to tell the world is this - we are trying,
0:07:21 > 0:07:26hard as it may be, to banish all thoughts of revenge...
0:07:26 > 0:07:31For anybody to start saying, "we must forgive"
0:07:31 > 0:07:38was just so alien at that time, because everything we did,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41everything we thought about was how to win the war.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44But that was his message
0:07:44 > 0:07:50and, of course, a lot of the peace work that the cathedral still does started with him.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52He was such a wonderful man.
0:07:52 > 0:07:57We're going to try and make a kinder, simpler,
0:07:57 > 0:07:59a more Christ-child like sort of world
0:07:59 > 0:08:01in the days beyond this strike.
0:08:05 > 0:08:10# Thou wilt keep him
0:08:10 > 0:08:16# In perfect peace
0:08:16 > 0:08:22# Whose mind is stayed
0:08:22 > 0:08:29# On Thee
0:08:29 > 0:08:39# The darkness is no darkness with Thee
0:08:39 > 0:08:48# But the night is as clear as the day
0:08:48 > 0:08:53# The darkness and
0:08:53 > 0:08:57# The light to thee
0:08:57 > 0:09:01# To thee
0:09:01 > 0:09:08# Are both alike
0:09:08 > 0:09:12# To thee
0:09:12 > 0:09:18# Are both alike
0:09:20 > 0:09:24# God is light
0:09:24 > 0:09:31# And in Him is like
0:09:34 > 0:09:40# God is light
0:09:40 > 0:09:45# There is no darkness at all
0:09:45 > 0:09:50# Oh, let my soul live
0:09:50 > 0:09:58# Oh, let my soul live
0:09:58 > 0:10:02# And it shall praise
0:10:02 > 0:10:10# For thine is the kingdom
0:10:10 > 0:10:15# The power and the glory
0:10:15 > 0:10:21# For thine is the kingdom
0:10:21 > 0:10:26# The power and the glory
0:10:26 > 0:10:31# Forever
0:10:31 > 0:10:34# And ever
0:10:34 > 0:10:40# Forever more
0:10:41 > 0:10:48# Thou wilt keep him
0:10:48 > 0:10:53# In perfect peace
0:10:53 > 0:11:01# Whose mind is stayed
0:11:01 > 0:11:05# Whose mind is stayed
0:11:05 > 0:11:09# On thee
0:11:09 > 0:11:17# Is stayed
0:11:19 > 0:11:26# On Thee. #
0:11:33 > 0:11:39Architect Sir Basil Spence was chosen to design the new cathedral
0:11:39 > 0:11:42from 200 entries in an international competition.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48The day at the consecration was a proud moment
0:11:48 > 0:11:51for Sir Basil's daughter, Gillian.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55Do you think that the cathedral itself
0:11:55 > 0:11:57is an expression of your father's own faith?
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Yes, I do think so, very strongly.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03I think he'd been through the war and everything,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06and he'd just felt that this was a time for rebuilding
0:12:06 > 0:12:11in every sense of the word. Rebuilding morally, spiritually.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15Of course it was replacing this wonderful medieval cathedral
0:12:15 > 0:12:17and yet the design was ultra-modern.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19What was the reaction to that?
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Well, it was very mixed and the problem was
0:12:22 > 0:12:26what they showed first were the cathedral competition drawings.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Now, these are architect's drawings
0:12:28 > 0:12:31and they're very difficult to understand.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37Anthony Blee was Sir Basil's assistant. He believes that
0:12:37 > 0:12:40one of the architect's greatest achievements
0:12:40 > 0:12:43was to keep all of the old cathedral ruins as part of the new design
0:12:43 > 0:12:47and to link them through an ancient pedestrian right of way.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53By doing that, he almost encouraged people to enter the cathedral
0:12:53 > 0:12:55before they even knew they were there,
0:12:55 > 0:13:00because suddenly you're confronted by this great west screen in glass.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05Spiritually you enter the building at that point.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08So that was an act of genius, I think, to do that.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16The other remarkable thing was that the art is not applied afterwards
0:13:16 > 0:13:18as a bolt-on goodie, but an integral part
0:13:18 > 0:13:21of the concept of the design right from the start.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24And that's terribly important.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28John Piper's Baptistery window, the knave windows,
0:13:28 > 0:13:32the Sutherland tapestry, the Epstein sculpture of St Michael.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49But you two have another very special reason
0:13:49 > 0:13:53for being particularly fond of Coventry Cathedral, don't you?
0:13:53 > 0:13:56Yes, we do, yes, we do, because we were married there.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01- The cathedral wasn't finished.- No.
0:14:01 > 0:14:06The walls were half built and it was a very cold, misty February day.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08And I had a lilac dress, long,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12which dragged across the mud and the puddles.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15But it was a consecrated chapel
0:14:15 > 0:14:19and we thought this would be the most wonderful place to be married.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24When your father saw the cathedral finished,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26was he happy with his work?
0:14:26 > 0:14:28I think he was very happy.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31It was very true to its time, that design,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35and that's why it is so strong, I think,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38because it radiates the faith and the power
0:14:38 > 0:14:43and the optimism of that age.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45People have described it as a kind of resurrection.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49Well, it was, it was a phoenix from the ashes.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51Literally from the ashes of the old cathedral.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54Over the last 50 years, Coventry Cathedral has developed
0:16:54 > 0:16:59an international reputation for its work towards peace.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02This has led to the creation of a unique role.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06David Porter is the current Canon Director for Reconciliation.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11So is reconciliation actually possible?
0:17:11 > 0:17:15I think some of the things people look on as reconciliation are very simplistic -
0:17:15 > 0:17:18if you do that and you do that and say this
0:17:18 > 0:17:20and relate in that way, then we're all reconciled.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23And I think sometimes that's just a load of tosh.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27I think reconciliation is a hard journey and even when we do
0:17:27 > 0:17:30get moments of reconciliation they can easily evaporate.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32If you are constantly working for peace,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35does that mean that you are a pacifist?
0:17:35 > 0:17:37No, I'm not a pacifist.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40I'm not far off it, but when you consider the injustices of our world
0:17:40 > 0:17:45and the bullies that there are who only understand a punch in the nose at times,
0:17:45 > 0:17:48I do accept that sometimes violence does need to be used
0:17:48 > 0:17:50to protect the defenceless.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52But I do think that when we do use violence
0:17:52 > 0:17:55we are actually committing sin.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58And therefore even after war, we don't come to God,
0:17:58 > 0:18:02thanking God for victory, we have to start by asking for forgiveness.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04Father, forgive.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10We have what is called the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13which was written by Joseph Poole who was the first precentor
0:18:13 > 0:18:16for the new cathedral, incorporating Provost Howard's
0:18:16 > 0:18:20simple statement, "Father, forgive", which acknowledges that
0:18:20 > 0:18:23we're all responsible for the mess of our world.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27So much of what's remembered here at Coventry
0:18:27 > 0:18:29relates back to the Second World War.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33Now, many would say, that's 70 years ago, isn't it time to move on?
0:18:33 > 0:18:34At one level it is,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37but then the reconciliation that
0:18:37 > 0:18:40Coventry has had with Germany and has taken a lead in
0:18:40 > 0:18:42is the hope that we offer to the world,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45because if Germany and England can be reconciled,
0:18:45 > 0:18:50after what we did to each other from 1914 right through to 1945,
0:18:50 > 0:18:54then there is no conflict in our world today that can't be reconciled
0:18:54 > 0:18:56and that there isn't hope for.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00As an expression of the love, joy and peace...
0:19:00 > 0:19:05A very special statue was unveiled here at the cathedral recently,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08what does it represent?
0:19:08 > 0:19:10It is a gift from the Frauenkirche in Dresden
0:19:10 > 0:19:13and it is their gift to us to mark
0:19:13 > 0:19:17the 50th anniversary of the new cathedral of Coventry.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21And so we dedicated to civilian victims of aerial bombing,
0:19:21 > 0:19:26and especially the German civilians who died under allied bombing.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28For me, one of the signs of reconciliation is when
0:19:28 > 0:19:32we have the capacity to memorialise our enemy's sufferings.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35This is the first time we've actually done that
0:19:35 > 0:19:37on the site here of Coventry Cathedral.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18Three medieval nails,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21taken from the bombed ruins of the old cathedral,
0:22:21 > 0:22:26form the centrepiece of the new cathedral's high altar cross.
0:22:26 > 0:22:27This cross of nails has become
0:22:27 > 0:22:32the cathedral's international symbol of peace.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37Today, there are about 170 Cross of Nails communities around the world,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40an international network for peace.
0:22:40 > 0:22:47But the cathedral also acknowledges those who go to war on our behalf.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52Royal Navy warship HMS Diamond is affiliated to the city of Coventry.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Last year, it was presented with a cross of nails by the cathedral.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59Ed Briggs is a serving lieutenant on the Diamond.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04I think it's very appropriate that we carry a cross on a warship
0:23:04 > 0:23:09as a reminder of that symbol of willing sacrifice
0:23:09 > 0:23:12and as a symbol of hope as well.
0:23:14 > 0:23:20People do often ask me about how I feel as a Christian,
0:23:20 > 0:23:24about being potentially asked to kill.
0:23:24 > 0:23:25There is no simple answer.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27But every time I'm asked,
0:23:27 > 0:23:32I'm forced to think through my reasons again
0:23:32 > 0:23:36and I'm reminded of my conviction
0:23:36 > 0:23:39that there are some things worth fighting for.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43The cliches, I do believe, are true -
0:23:43 > 0:23:46that evil will prevail while good men do nothing.
0:23:47 > 0:23:53Exactly 30 years ago, it was another warship, HMS Coventry,
0:23:53 > 0:23:57which carried the same cross of nails to the Falkland Islands.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Commodore Jamie Miller was working as an interpreter on board.
0:24:01 > 0:24:06When we go into a war zone, we prepare the ship for action
0:24:06 > 0:24:08and we secure or put away loose articles
0:24:08 > 0:24:11that might cause damage if and when we get hit.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14The ship's company asked that the cross of nails
0:24:14 > 0:24:16was not put away in a safe cupboard
0:24:16 > 0:24:22but stayed out as a prominent symbol of hope, defiance, I suppose.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26Indeed, many passed it as they went to action stations for the last time.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31On 25th May 1982, HMS Coventry was attacked
0:24:31 > 0:24:34and sunk with the loss of 19 lives.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39Jamie Miller was one of the last to be rescued.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42That cross of nails was something I had passed every day
0:24:42 > 0:24:45when I girded myself for the next action or next watch.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51And it did sustain me, something tangible, and now here it is again,
0:24:51 > 0:24:55on a frontline warship, an incredible ship, HMS Diamond.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59I'm so glad it's still with us, it's still sustaining a new generation.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45Let thine eyes be opened towards this house.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48Day and night, hallow this building.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Heavenly Father, thank you for our Golden Jubilee
0:26:56 > 0:27:01and for 50 years of proclaiming the forgiveness of Christ.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08May the love of the Father continue to draw us to Himself.
0:27:15 > 0:27:24# Laudate dominum
0:27:24 > 0:27:30# Omnes gentes
0:27:30 > 0:27:38# Laudate eum
0:27:38 > 0:27:50# Omnes populi
0:27:51 > 0:27:56# Quoninam confirmata est
0:27:56 > 0:28:11# Super nos misere cordia ejus
0:28:12 > 0:28:23# Et veritus, veritus Domini
0:28:23 > 0:28:37# Manet, manet in aeternum
0:28:37 > 0:28:47# Gloria Patri et Filio
0:28:47 > 0:28:53# Et Spiritui Sancto
0:28:53 > 0:29:08# Sicut erat in principio
0:29:10 > 0:29:15# Et nunc, et semper
0:29:15 > 0:29:33# Et in saecula saeculorum
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# Amen. #
0:30:05 > 0:30:09And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father,
0:30:09 > 0:30:15the Son and the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17- Amen.- Amen.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22It would be easy to think that Coventry Cathedral
0:30:22 > 0:30:27is defined by that fateful night during the Second World War.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30But, of course, there'd been Christian worship on this site
0:30:30 > 0:30:34for centuries before that and hopefully, for many years to come.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36We are going to finish with a well known hymn
0:30:36 > 0:30:39in which the second verse has been given new words
0:30:39 > 0:30:43by the Canon Presenter of Coventry Cathedral, David Stone.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47Not just to mark this 50th birthday, but the cathedral's unique mission
0:30:47 > 0:30:51for peace and reconciliation around the world.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35Next week, on Father's Day, Aled will be thinking about
0:33:35 > 0:33:37what it takes to make a great dad.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40There'll be marvellous music to mark the occasion,
0:33:40 > 0:33:44and you never know, he might even get to put his feet up!
0:33:57 > 0:34:00Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd