Canterbury Cathedral Archives

Canterbury Cathedral

Letter from the Editor: Keeping our souls and churches in good (and sacred) order

March 27, 2024

Is nothing sacred? At the Catholic Herald we have argued in our articles that the Church of England has crossed such a line in allowing the naves of some of the UK’s greatest cathedrals – including Canterbury – to be temporarily repurposed for cocktail-fuelled silent discos (in which the revellers dance to music coming through headphones)

Enlightenment pragmaticism versus sacred revolt

February 20, 2024

To rave in the nave or not to rave in the nave? The disturbances about what should or should not happen in a cathedral have divided Christian opinion in the UK. This is perhaps partly because the differences between the Protestant and the Catholic minds run deep. It’s not driven only by differences in the

‘Silent Disco’ at Canterbury Cathedral leads to more voluble protest

February 07, 2024

A group of protesters plans to gather outside Canterbury Cathedral tomorrow evening to “peacefully” object to a dance event being held in the cathedral’s interior. Labelled by some as the “rave in the Nave”, its organisers at the cathedral argue that the event called 90’s Silent Disco In The Cathedral is a way to raise

On the Fifth Day of Christmas: Crown, sword and mitre

December 29, 2022

Ben Stephens reflects on the life, death, and afterlife of Thomas Becket, who rose to be Henry II’s Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury, but who after years of tension between the Crown and the Church was murdered on this day in 1170. Each new age calls for new heroes; perhaps it calls for new