Religion: Act of Faith

Coventry Cathedral, smashed by the Nazis in the blitz of 1940, will rise from its ashes. Last week Britain’s Ministry of Works granted a rebuilding license, thereby overruling the utilitarian objections of Coventry’s city council. The council had argued that Coventry needs more schools, homes and health centers before men and materials can be spared for church building. But Sir David Eccles wrote to its lord mayor: “Can we be sure that a cathedral would be so useless? Is it always right to prefer things seen to things unseen . . . ? The echo of bombs which destroyed your city was heard around the world. We cannot tell how many people are waiting, in this country and abroad, for this church to rise and prove that English traditions live again after the blitz. The threat of far worse destruction is with us today, demoralizing and corrupting our thoughts. We have never had a greater need for acts of faith.”