Since its devastation during the Second World War, Coventry Cathedral has stood as a powerful symbol of reconciliation and peace. The city of Coventry, once a hub for munitions and metal industries, endured relentless Luftwaffe bombing raids, with the most catastrophic attack occurring on the night of 14 November 1940. That night claimed more than 550 lives, destroyed 4,300 homes, and left two-thirds of the city’s buildings, including the 14th-century St Michael’s Cathedral, in ruins.
In the immediate aftermath, acts of hope and healing emerged from the devastation. The Rev Arthur Wales fashioned a cross from three medieval nails found in the cathedral’s rubble, binding them together with wire. This makeshift cross became an enduring emblem of suffering transformed by hope. On the same day, the cathedral’s provost, Richard Howard, inscribed the words “Father Forgive” — a reference to Christ’s words from the cross — on a scorched wall of the ruined church.
Howard’s message of peace resonated on Christmas Day 1940 when, during a BBC broadcast, he emphasized the need to work with former enemies to “build a kinder, more Christ-like world.”
That commitment took physical form with the construction of a new cathedral beside the ruins of the old, consecrated in 1962. This deliberate architectural juxtaposition preserved the scars of war while heralding a future rooted in reconciliation. From 1947 onward, crosses made from nails salvaged from the ruins were gifted to churches worldwide, the first going to St Nikolai Church in Kiel, Germany. This symbolic act led to the formation of the Community of the Cross of Nails in 1976 — an ecumenical network devoted to healing divisions.
On 8 May, as the world marks the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the Dean of Coventry, the Very Rev John Witcombe, is attending a service at the cathedral’s partner church, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche in Berlin. There, he will introduce the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation — a prayer centered on forgiveness. Later that evening, at 6:30 p.m., Coventry’s bells will join a nationwide ringing event commemorating the end of the war in Europe.
The cathedral has long appointed canons dedicated to reconciliation, and in recent years, this role has expanded to include the arts. This shift acknowledges the growing recognition that art and reconciliation share a common capacity to speak to the human condition. Canon Kate Massey will assume the position of Canon for Arts and Reconciliation next month. Formerly a doctor specializing in mental health and psychiatry, Massey was ordained at Coventry Cathedral in 2011.
Coventry Cathedral is home to an extensive art collection, including Graham Sutherland’s vast tapestry Christ in Glory in the Tetramorph and Jacob Epstein’s 1958 bronze sculpture St Michael’s Victory over the Devil. Canon Massey believes these works are more than artistic treasures — they are tools for peacebuilding. “Art helps the understanding of peace and reconciliation,” she explains. “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 her doctoral research, Massey examined how the Church confronts internal conflict and fosters reconciliation, offering insight into its influence on global religious leadership. She hopes to continue developing ways to “heal the wounds of history, celebrate difference and build a culture of justice and peace.”
Reflecting on her own family’s wartime past, Massey recounted a poignant memory of her grandmother on the first VE Day, mourning not only victory but the immense cost of war. “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.”
Massey sees Coventry’s mission as increasingly vital in today’s fractured world. “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,” she noted. Citing Pope Francis, she emphasized the importance of promoting “weapons of peace, not weapons of war.”
“The most challenging part of my role,” she added, “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.”
