Archbishop Of Canterbury Visits Bablake During His Return To Coventry

Yesterday Bablake was very honoured to host a visit from the Most Reverend and Rt Hon Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury. Upon arrival, the Archbishop visited a Shell classroom on his way to a forum with pupils representing many of the values of our community.

In the discussion forum, while surveying our International Cross of Nails scrapbook, the Archbishop asked each pupil present about their role in our school. It was a privilege to hear them explain so eloquently about their commitment and passion.

From there, the Archbishop moved to our Rehearsal Room where he was able to listen to our Junior Choir and mingle with a dozen faith leaders from across the city, before leaving to present a lecture at Coventry University. With such a hectic agenda for his day in Coventry, it was a great honour that he took time to visit Bablake.

Our Chaplain Reverend Sacha Slavic commented: 'Spirituality and religious practices have an undeniable contribution to make to peace, reconciliation and harmony in our world. As Pope Francis said, 'For the sake of peace, religious beliefs must never be allowed to be abused in the cause of violence and war. We must be clear and unequivocal in challenging our communities to live fully the tenets of peace and coexistence found in each religion, and to denounce acts of violence when they are committed.'

What better way then than to invite children, faith leaders and others to engage in dialogue. We are so pleased that Archbishop Justin with his track record and commitment to peace and unity, and a busy schedule was able to enhance this agenda by his presence. Yesterday was a very proud occasion for our school community.'

Headmaster Mr John Watson said: 'We have been thrilled to welcome the Archbishop today, as well as faith leaders from all over Coventry. It was a special gathering which signalled our joint commitment to peace and reconciliation in our world and to the growth of mutual understanding in a multi-faith society.'

Former Wheatleyan editor and aspiring journalist Beth Rowland, who intriguingly had been baptised by the Most Reverend Justin Welby when he served the Coventry Diocese, added: 'The Archbishop is an amazing man. I really valued the chance to meet him and ask him various questions about his work and my faith. I sensed he very much wanted to stay longer and hear more about the work Bablake was doing to maintain its International Cross of Nails status.'

The Archbishop left Bablake staff and pupils with a question about what it meant to them all to be an International Cross of Nails school. We look forward to collating replies to this question and reporting those to the Archbishop.

(Photograph by Mark Radford Photography for the Coventry Telegraph.) 

Footnote
To read more about the Archbishop of Canterbury, please clickhere.