Manchester Miracles

Last Updated on Friday, 19 February 2010 10:25

A response to the debate on the Equality Bill

We struggle after equality, after a better society. We try to legislate for it. But we’ll never get there on our own. We need God’s help. We need miracles. I believe they happen.

I work in Sedgley Park, at the Police Training School. It’s surrounded by Manchester’s orthodox Jewish community. Large hats and black coats, skull caps and beards are all around me every day. Sometimes it can feel a bit unsettling as I walk to

work, even a wee bit threatening.

But now it’s Friday evening. I’m walking home. People are on the streets, and in large numbers. The Sabbath has begun. En route to the Synagogue, or heading home, groups gather on street corners They chat away. Nobody is driving, no- one’s in a hurry.

Peace has descended. It‘s a holy night; I’m treading on holy ground. A sense of Prayer, a sense of God’s presence, they enter into me. I’ve moved beyond the surfaces (the hats and beards). A warmth wells up inside me towards His people.

Read more: Manchester Miracles

The Stations of the Cross/The Captive Figure by Ghislaine Howard

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 February 2010 12:01

Like the greatest examples of Christian art, this acclaimed series of paintings by the artist Ghislaine Howard is at once religious and humanitarian in character. Completed in the year 2000, these works invite the viewer to contemplate a series of events that rest at the very heart of the Christian liturgy.

Each one of these fourteen large monochrome canvases marks a moment of Christ’s final journey to his place of crucifixion, imagined as if witnessed by a bystander in the crowd.

In a letter to the artist, Sister Wendy Beckett wrote, ‘your Stations have a passionate roughness that seems sublimely right for the pain and confusion of Christ’s Passion. They call out to the viewer the meaning of Christ’s suffering.”

These works also speak of the power of the individual human spirit to withstand suffering in whatever form it might take. Dan Jones of Amnesty International has written that ‘this sequence opens up opportunities to highlight and explore the issue of torture and the plight of victims of oppression all over the world.’

Read more: The Stations of the Cross/The Captive Figure by Ghislaine Howard

Up on the roof

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 February 2010 12:00

The scale of the roof area at Manchester Cathedral dates back to the Middle Ages when the Chantry Chapels were added and the width increased.

The roofs of Manchester Cathedral are mostly lead (with exception of the tower roof) of varying age and condition. The chancel was re-roofed some 26 years ago. In comparison, the South aisles were laid approximately 65 years ago. In the last quinquennial inspection, carried out in 2007, the poor condition of the aisle lead roofs was highlighted – the South aisles being the worst affected area.

It was deemed that urgent action was required – there were splits at the end of rolls, in the centre of bays and in the gutters. Leaks onto the Cathedral floor itself added to the concern.

Read more: Up on the roof

Am I my brothers keeper?

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 February 2010 11:59

To intervene or not to intervene is one of the questions being raised by the Chilcott enquiry into the Iraq war.

Most church leaders expressed serious concern about the war even before it took place on the grounds that it did not fulfil the classic demands of a just war. The just war criteria developed initially by Augustine govern both the reasons for going to war and the conduct ofthe conflict itself and are:

1-War can only be undertaken for defence against aggression, 2-it must be undertake with the intention of restoring peace, military force must be the last resort, 3-the body going to war must be the highest appropriate authority, 4-action must be the least possible to repel the aggression, 5-the means must be proportional to the offence, 6-non combatants must be protected, 7-there must be a reasonable hope of success.

The Iraq war fell foul of many of these criteria as questions were raised in relation to points 1,4,5 and 7. It is point 4 that is particularly being discussed in relation to the question “Was the war legal?” The condemnation of the war was tempered at least in this Diocese by three concerns.

Read more: Am I my brothers keeper?