The cross that was presented to the Cathedral to signify our partnership in the Community of the Cross of Nails (based in Coventry Cathedral) has been installed in the East Transept, now known as the Chapel of Reconciliation. A plaque describing the significance of the cross, and including the text of the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation has also been mounted in the chapel. The text reads as follows:
Following the bombing of England’s Coventry Cathedral in 1940, its provost, the Very Reverend Richard Howard, made a commitment not to seek revenge, but to strive for forgiveness and reconciliation with those responsible. Using a national radio broadcast from the cathedral ruins on Christmas Day 1940 he declared that when the war was over he would work with those who had been enemies “to build a kinder, more Christ-child-like world.”
It was this moral and prophetic vision which led to Coventry Cathedral’s development as a world Centre for Reconciliation. A major part of its ministry is the Community of the Cross of Nails, which is today an international network of Christian churches, organisations and other faith communities, all drawn together by the story of Coventry Cathedral, and sharing a common commitment to work and pray for peace, justice and reconciliation.
In 2017, Coventry’s Canon for Reconciliation, the Reverend Dr Sarah Hills, presented Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa with a cross of nails to signify its partnership in the Community of the Cross of Nails. As a partner, this Cathedral shares in the tasks of healing the wounds of history, learning to live with difference and celebrate diversity, and building a culture of peace.
Upon becoming a partner of the Community of the Cross of Nails, this east transept of the Cathedral was named the Chapel of Reconciliation. It is a space where the Cathedral’s pastoral ministry of healing and reconciliation often takes place, and where its role as the Cathedral to the Anglican Military Ordinariate of the Canadian Forces, and its chaplains, is recognized. On the Chapel’s walls hang framed regimental colours, many with battle honours that serve as a reminder of the terrible cost of an unreconciled world.
The Coventry Cross of Nails is mounted here, in this quiet, peaceful Chapel of Reconciliation, with the simple words “Father forgive” beneath it.
Every Friday, along with other partners around the world, the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation is prayed in the Cathedral:
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
The hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class, Father forgive. The covetous desires of people and nations to possess what is not their own, Father forgive.
The greed which exploits the work of human hands and lays waste the earth, Father forgive.
Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others, Father forgive.
Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee, Father forgive. The lust which dishonours the bodies of men, women and children, Father forgive.
The pride which leads us to trust in ourselves and not in God, Father forgive.
Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.