MICHAEL: An Angel’s Journey
Date/Time
Date(s) - 13/11/2022 - 09/04/2023
10:00 - 16:00
Categories
Dresden sculptor Reinhard Pontius‘s large wooden sculpture of the Archangel Michael will be in St. Michael’s Cathedral garden until 9 April 2023. He designed it an angel of peace without weapons, open to a direct encounter with people.
Reinhard Pontius is touring this sculpture through Europe with the desire to set a sign for peace and reconciliation. He has already travelled with it through Germany for two years and is now in Coventry as the start of his wider European tour.
It is his symbol of peace and reconciliation in commemoration of the destruction of the city by the German Luftwaffe in World War 2.
Reinhard Pontius says “There is no more suitable place for me in relation to my concern to set an example for peace and reconciliation with this journey than St. Michael’s Cathedral in Coventry.
“Like large parts of the city of Coventry, the old cathedral was destroyed by German bombers on November 14, 1940. The then provost of Coventry, Richard Howard, formed three large carpenter’s nails into a cross from the charred roof beams, placed them on the altar and had the words “Father forgive” written on the wall behind. This is how the Coventry Cross of Nails came about, which became the starting point and symbol for a movement, the Cross of Nails Community, whose goal is to advocate peace and reconciliation worldwide.
“It now includes over 160 locations around the world, 63 of them in Germany. In Dresden there is a cross of nails from Coventry in five churches. Dresden and Coventry are sister cities. It is a great pleasure and honour for me to be able to be a guest in this place with my angel of peace.”
The completion of the journey of the Angel of Peace should be in Kiev in 2025.