"The Church should talk about political problems, but not tell whom to vote for", - The Very Reverend John Witcombe

The Church is a big institution and is often makes mistakes. However, it concerns many areas of people's lives. Watch and read the exclusive interview with the Dean of Coventry Cathedral in the UK, Reverend John Whitcomb, about the community of the Cross of Nails, the restoration of cathedrals, the British and the war, same-sex relationships, abuse and Anglicanism.

"Do you want to go to a shelter or do you want to stay here in the church?"

Well, to be in a place where there is a service where an alarm may go off and they interrupt the service and say "Do you want to go to a shelter or do you want to stay here in the church?" — that is quite unusual. In some ways, it is quite similar. 

We have some similar music and some similar prayers, although here prayers also in Ukrainian and Russian because it is also a Russian speaking congregation, and German. We do in England quite often use some of our prayers in German as a sign of our reconciliation 

"We decided to keep the ruins of the old cathedral as a sign of what people do to each other"

Because in many places, especially for example in Germany, cathedrals and churches were rebuilt to look just as they had before the war. But in Coventry we decided to keep the ruins of the old cathedral as a sign of what people do to each other: as a memorial and as a sign of Christ's crucifixion. But to put next to the ruins a new and beautiful cathedral as a sign of hope, of resurrection, and of new life.

Coventry Cathedral, a ruin of a Gothic building (left) with an annex. Photo: Wikipedia

And so, for example, in other places both in Germany, but also, say, in New Zealand, where they have had the cathedral in Christchurch destroyed by an earthquake, they came to us and said "What should we do?". And we said "You should not just rebuild", but they have decided to rebuild. It's a shame.

In Dresden, so in the Frankish in Dresden, they have left small signs of the destruction, just in some blackened stones, but they do also have a Coventry Cross of Nails, a very big one on their altar.

"Coventry Cross is a symbol of Christ being present in the midst of destruction, bringing God’s love and hope"

So I brought a Coventry Cross to Ukraine in July, 2013. It was, I believe, the first Coventry Cross in the country. And a Coventry cross is made of three nails, two this way and then one that way. Originally, they were made from nails that had fallen from the burning roof of the old cathedral and were all over the ground after the bombing. Today, they are replica nails made in a prison workshop in Germany. The symbol is of Christ being present in the midst of destruction, bringing God's love and hope.

Cross of Nails community. Is it true, that Russian participation is suspended?

Across the world, there are 250 members of the community of the Cross of Nails. Many are churches, but also many are schools, and other organizations may be working in the community or working nationally to care for the poor or to fight for justice.

So, this is a little complex. So, there are churches who are members of the community of the Cross of Nails in Russia. They are in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kaliningrad. Their membership is not suspended. Sorry, this is complicated, but the city is twinned, city of Coventry is twinned with the city of Volgograd. So this is a city-city, not church-church relationship. That relationship is suspended between the City Council of Coventry and the City Council of Volgograd.

Photo: Intent, Natalya Dovbysh

"I don’t think many Brits think about the possibility of another major war"

I do not think that many Britons think that another major war is likely. But of course, this is one of the reasons why NATO does not want to get involved in the war directly. There is an anxiety that there may be, but I don't think many people think that there will be. But how do we best prevent — that is a hard question. 
Anglicanism started out as the state religion of England after the Reformation. We were part of the Roman Catholic Church, until the Reformation. Then after the Reformation, the Church of England was established as a fusion, a combination, a bringing together of Catholic and Protestant theologies. So instead of the Pope as the head of our church, it became the King.

The difference between  Anglicanism and other Christian communities

Our beliefs are quite close to the beliefs of the Lutheran Church. So it's somewhat Catholic, somewhat reformed.

Women in the Life of the Cathedral

No, no, no, this is not true. So, we have had women bishops for maybe 10 years, I don't remember exactly.

"The church should not just be conservative - it should be prophets, knowing the truth about how it should be "

Churches should not just be conservative, they should also be prophets telling the truth about how things should be, not just keeping them as they are. I was originally going to be an engineer. I think that, there is no contradiction between science and religion. Science answers the question "how?". Religion answers the question "why and what for?". So religion helps us to work out how to live with and science should help us do that well. You cannot prove the existence of God. So, it is a daily act of faith for me. So I will say "Where was God in Mariupol?", for example, but then I find God in bringing people together like this conversation here.

"I believe in God, but I do not believe in the Church" 

So I think, God keeps faith and love alive. The church is a big institution and often gets things wrong. So, I believe in God, but I do not believe in the church. So, the church as a human institution gets many things right, but also many things wrong. And has caused great suffering for some priests in other religions.

Views of the Church on social problems. "Everyone should sit at the table." 

For example, the church is very divided about same-sex relationships. Some people have a very conservative view, some people have a much more progressive view. We have to try and help them understand each other. But my feeling is that I want to keep everybody around the table and I will not allow one group to exclude a different group. So, what can happen is that, say, a more conservative person will say "If that progressive is at the table, I'm not going to come". So will you forbid the progressive person? But I will not do that. The table is there for everyone. 

Religion, for me, is a way of understanding why I'm here as a human being. It helps me to find the strength to live. It gives me a way not just to answer questions but, perhaps, even more to ask questions. It holds me on track to the values that I believe are important. There is no conclusive proof of God, but also there is no disproof of God. Everybody has to make up their own mind. 

I think Nietzsche, I might've said at the end of the last thing, there are some very good atheists. Nietzsche: "God is dead", whatever the date was, and the next one, God, Nietzsche is dead.

Photo: Intent, Natalya Dovbysh

"When someone says that they are a victim of an abuse, our first reaction is to believe what is said"

This has been a terrible recent story in the church. There are many bad stories that have begun to be told. And we have to care for the victims and repent of those things that happened. So, today, we work very hard to ensure that it does not happen. We have many new policies and practices in place, and when somebody tells the story that they have been abused, our first response is to believe what they say and to care for them. And then to investigate the truth of their claim. We also have to care for those against whom an allegation has been made. As Christians, it is our obligation to care for everybody, both the victims and also those who are guilty.

The story of the lies of the Church and unheard people

I mean, the movie is unfortunately not telling a unique story. It shows very well how the Church has not told the truth and how people were not listened to. I found it a very painful watch. It was very important that the movie was made. And there is still a long journey to rebuild trust in the church. But today, every single one of our senior management meetings has on its agenda "Are there any safeguarding matters we need to consider to make sure we are looking after everybody?".

"I think we should maintain loving committed same-sex relationships"

Personally, this is my personal view, I think we should recognize and support loving committed same-sex relationships. I know many Christians who want to love God and to love one another. But it is a very contentious, it is a very hot topic in the church in England.

How to understand the hierarchy of the Anglican Church?

Really, the Archbishop of Canterbury leads the church. He has sworn to obey the monarch, the King, so we hope the King does not order him to do something he should not be doing.

"We are like a franchise? We are like a family "

This also is not straightforward. So, is it a little bit like a franchise? We are like a family. Sometimes we argue. And one part cannot be ordered what to do by another part. So it is true that we have many different churches in different countries and our cultural differences
and our theological differences are sometimes quite deep. And so we are always trying to work out how to stay together as a family.

 "The Church should talk about political problems, but not tell who to vote for"

So, I said before, the church should be like a prophet, should tell the truth. So, the church should try to tell the truth about people's lives and the life in the world. The answer, so that is often about telling what are the problems that we need to address,. But the answers, political answers will be, oh, sorry, I'm not putting this very well. There will be argument over the best way in politics to address those. So the church should speak about political issues, but should not tell people who to vote for. Yes, so our election, of course, was yesterday for a new government. It is very exciting and there has been a change of government for the first time in 14 years. Yes, yes, the ruling party is now changed. I should not tell you who I voted for but I can say that it was time for a change. 

"We all want peace"

And what would you, I should have asked this before, what, I know some of the answers to this but if I was to ask you what help do you need, what would you say? When I say what do you want, we know you need arms. But then providing arms makes the war go on but it seems you need them. It's that is the question because we all want peace but we want a just peace. You keep the land that you have occupied. Let's just stop, this is not justice. But how do we, yeah. 

Валерій Болган