People's Cathedra!

Coventry Cathedral, almost obliterated by German bombs, will rise again. But the new fane, as described last week by Coventry's Bishop Neville Vincent Gorton, will be an innovation among Anglican Cathedrals. The striking change will not be in architecture (it will be modernized Gothic, designed by famed Roman Catholic architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott), but in the cathedral's interdenominational character.

Legally the Cathedral Church of St. Michael will belong to the Church of England. But, as "The People's Cathedral," it will belong to everyone. It will have a communal center (for meetings, discussions) open to all people, a Chapel of Unity to be used by both Anglicans and Non-Conformists. Bishop Gorton hopes that this new interdenominational emphasis will attract some of the 80% of Coventry's 167,000 citizens who go to no church.

The new Coventry will have a feature unique in Anglican Cathedrals: the high altar will not be set against the east end, but will stand in the center of the building.* Said Bishop Gorton: "The altar does not belong to the clergy only. It belongs also to the people. Therefore, set it up in the middle of the church and let the people gather around it."

* The central altar goes back to early Christian times, was common up to the 9th Century. Today most churches do not have them. Some exceptions: St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City; Father Coughlin's Shrine of the Little Flower, Royal Oak, Mich.

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