A Living Part
Tnn completion and consecration of the new Cathedral of Coventry means more than the inauguration of an important monument of modern architecture, more even than the recon- struction of what was laid waste by war. The word 'cathedral' has the original meaning of a Bishop's seat, the building in which his throne was placed, but, down through the centuries, its resonance has come to carry with it other mean- ings which go deep into the history of our civili- sation. A cathedral has traditionally been in some sort the, symbolic expression of the com- munity grouped around it, the building in which was summed up its spiritual aspirations and which could be felt as endowing it with a unity above the conflicting interests of urban life. And the question posed by Coventry is whether the life of, the modern city is susceptible of such in- fluence, whether we still have sufficient beliefs in common to allow a cathedral to play a living part in our communities. Those citizens of Coventry who did not desire the rebuilding of the cathedral, but thought that the labour and money should be applied to more strictly utilitarian processes, prejudged the issue from the start. We must hope that they were wrong, and that, art having done what it can for Coventry Cathedral, the soul of the building will be shaped by belief.
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