A Bolt from the Heavens

By Pico Iyer

Fire damages an ancient church amid a debate over faith

It was an unholy coincidence that many took to be divine retribution. Two weeks ago, Canon David Jenkins, 59, who had publicly asserted that neither the Virgin birth nor the Resurrection need be taken too literally, was formally consecrated as Bishop of Durham in York Min- ster amid cries of protest. Less than three days later, in the early hours of the morning, lightning forked down on the wooden roof of the minster's 13th century south transept. By 2:30 a.m., flames were leap- ing from the medieval masterpiece that is the largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe.

As the fire raged, members of the minster staff worked together in the burning building to salvage tapestries, candlesticks, altar crosses and whole pews. Eventually the smoke and heat forced them to withdraw, and the south transept's entire roof "collapsed like a pack of dominoes," in the words of one clergyman. After three hours, firemen managed to bring the blaze under control. They also succeeded in preventing the fire from spreading through the rest of the church. As daylight crept into the now roofless transept, the full scope of the tragedy became apparent: littered with six-foot-high piles of charred debris and fallen beams, the area resembled nothing so much as a bombed-out shell. But the destruction had been limited. Five-sixths of the church, including a huge wooden sculpture of the Virgin and Child, remained unharmed. Best of all, the minster's priceless medieval stained glass largely escaped serious damage. Said Chief Fire Officer Ralph Ford: "The Lord was on our side as we battled with the flames."

No sooner had the fire subsided, however, than the flames of controversy were rekindled over the new Bishop of Durham. Jenkins, a professor of theology at the University of Leeds, had caused much of the fuss in a TV appearance about a month after he was named to the diocese. He had declared that the Virgin birth and the Resurrection might be more symbolic than literal, and that a person could be a good Christian even while doubting the divinity of Jesus. Immediately, traditionalists mounted a counterattack. The conservative Church of England Newspaper condemned Jenkins as a man "who takes pride in peddling dangerous and false heresy." A petition opposing the appointment was signed by 12,500 Anglicans.

After the York Minster blaze, Jenkins' detractors lost no time in claiming that their views had been vindicated. John Mowll, 51, a vicar who had been evicted from the minster for voicing protests in the midst of the new bishop's consecration ceremony, suggested that "divine intervention" might have caused the fire. Others took refuge in the Bible, citing the prophet Elijah, who brought down a fire from heaven, which destroyed an altar he had built in the presence of the prophets of Baal. A less apocalyptic note was sounded by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie. The real miracle, he implied, was that the damage was confined to so small an area.

That was indeed a blessing for a church that has weathered a peculiarly ill-fated history. England's finest Gothic cathedral has had both its nave and its choir ravaged by flames: an earlier fire, in 1829, was the work of a mad arsonist who believed that York Minster was the symbol of a corrupt church. More recently a plague of death-watch beetles (Xestobium rufovillosum) began nibbling into the timber roof. Last week's blaze also partly destroyed the work of a fiveyear, $3 million rehabilitation program that was concluded in 1972, the 500th anniversary of the minster's completion. It was that project's reloading of the church's stained glass, architectural experts believe, that saved the 16th century rose window, the glorious centerpiece of the south transept, from being reduced to a blackened hole.

Replacing the fallen roof is expected to take more than a year, and repairing all the damage up to five years. Last Wednesday the minster's doors were reopened to tourists--2 million visit the cathedral every year--and many left donations. Other contributions have begun to arrive from around the world. At least half of the restoration cost, which was estimated at more than $1.3 million, is covered by the Church of England's own insurance agency, the Ecclesiastical Insurance Office, even though the cathedral's policy makes no mention of acts of God. --By Pico Iyer.

Reported by Arthur White/London

With reporting by Arthur White