St. Paul's Cathedral of London: Down 99%



St. Paul's Cathedral (by Mark Fosh) 

While Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington rest silently within St. Paul’s Cathedral of London, battles quite different from the ones they fought have been unfolding right outside the cathedral's doors.

The BBC News reported that on October 15, 2011 “anti-capitalist demonstrators from Occupy London Stock Exchange” began an encampment in St. Paul’s Churchyard.  Hardly a week later, St. Paul’s (which claims on its website to act “as an important meeting place for people and ideas, as a centre for... learning and public debate”) was “closed to visitors for the first time since World War II because of protesters camping on its doorstep, its dean has said.”

At the time, the closing was partially attributed to an alleged “clear fire hazard.”  OccupyLSX then issued a rebuttal which claimed that “there are no outstanding fire safety issues.”  On October 27th, St. Paul’s Canon Chancellor, Giles Fraser, resigned due to his dissatisfaction with the way St. Paul’s was handling  the situation.  The Guardian reported this about Fraser:  “He had been talking privately about possibly needing to resign when the chapter voted to take action against the protesters, but his hand may have been forced...  there are church conservatives who would be delighted to see him fall.”

The protesters managed to hang in there until February 28, 2012.  The Religion News Service reported that scores of demonstrators were then forcibly evicted “from a makeshift tent city they had erected outside historic St. Paul’s Cathedral more than four months ago…”  On the very same day, St. Paul’s issued this website statement:   In the past few months, we have all been made to re-examine important issues about social and economic justice and the role the cathedral can play.  We regret the camp had to be removed by bailiffs but we are fully committed to continuing to promote these issues through our worship, teaching and institute.

 

Resources

http://www.stpauls.co.uk/Cathedral-History

http://www.religionnews.com/politics/government-and-politics/occupiers-cleared-from-londons-st.-pauls-cathedral

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/27/giles-fraser-st-pauls-profile

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15406865

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul's_Cathedral

Copyright February 29, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved