So, if Canterbury cathedral were still Catholic, as it was for 900 years before the discordant event of the Reformation, it is fair to say that the ghost of Thomas Becket would not have been disturbed by the rave in the nave which took place last night and is repeated tonight.
People wanting to visit the cathedral – and just possibly say their prayers there, which is the entire purpose of the building – yesterday encountered a notice saying: ‘Please note: the cathedral precincts will be closed to visitors from 17:00 today in preparation for the silent disco’.
The event is in fact a repeat of the grisly silent disco held there in February which brought Britney and Eminem into the cathedral. For the event tonight, the playlist is outlined on the cathedral’s website:
Dance to hits by Kylie, Madonna, Prince and many other artists of the 80s, in the magnificent, illuminated nave of Canterbury cathedral.
Following the success of February’s 90s-inspired event – which saw hundreds of visitors joyously share a unique night out in support of a truly special location – we are bringing disco back this August with an 80s event!”
The desecration, and I mean that exactly, of the cathedral was explained back in February by the Dean of Canterbury, the Very Rev. David Monteith, thus:
Whilst dancing of all different kinds has happened in the Cathedral over the centuries, there are many different views on the secular and the sacred.
Our 90s-themed silent disco will be appropriate to and respectful of the Cathedral – it is categorically not a ‘rave in the nave’ – but I appreciate that some will never agree that dancing and pop music have a place within cathedrals.
Dr Monteith added: ‘Cathedrals have always been part of community life in a way much wider than their prime focus as centres of Christian worship.’
Well, it’s not exactly David dancing before the Ark, is it?
Come to that, Our Lord had words to say about those who turn a house of prayer into a den of thieves. Cathedrals have indeed been ‘part of community life’ for centuries – if you want an idea of what that involved, look no further than Nicholas Orme’s excellent Going to Church in Medieval England. But at no point, ever, did it entail the God-free exuberant secular funfest with glowsticks that you can see on the cathedral website.
This event is not a gathering where the mind and heart are lifted to God – which is the purpose of the cathedral; the spirits of those in attendance are entirely moved by what’s happening on their headphones, elevated by drink, with the nave of the cathedral a numinous backdrop to the rave.
The Dean should have been sacked after the last event rather than presiding over this repeat of the sacrilege. You have to ask: where is Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose seat this is meant to be?
He was quick off the mark to scold rioters for ‘un-British’ behaviour but on the scandalous abuse of a cathedral established by St Augustine, whose successor he professes to be, he is uncharacteristically silent. He’s a nice man, but you can carry tolerance too far, and this is where tolerance has its limits.
I don’t care if the raves raise thousands of pounds for the upkeep of this historic building; what’s the National Lottery for?
I’d rather the rain came in through the roof than the cathedral be profaned.
And I can with absolute confidence say that this would be the view of its founder.
Canterbury cathedral was, courtesy of the martyrdom of Becket, the second most important pilgrimage site in Europe.
It was a Catholic cathedral longer than it’s been a Protestant one.
As I said on this subject before, if the CofE can’t look after it properly, can we have it back?