Opposition to Canterbury Cathedral’s controversial graffiti art project has continued, with one Christian writer describing it as part of the “suicide” of the Church of England.
The temporary exhibition consists of questions to God written in the style of graffiti. The questions ask, among other things, whether God is really there and why he created hate.
The exhibition was defended by the Dean of Canterbury, the Very Rev David Monteith, who argued, “This exhibition intentionally builds bridges between cultures, styles and genres and allows us to receive the gifts of younger people who have much to say.”
Many public reactions however have been negative, with even international figures like US Vice President JD Vance and Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, condemning the installation.
Adding their voice to the chorus is David Roseberry who, writing for The Anglican, argued that the Church of England was failing in its duty to provide spiritual guidance to those who are seeking it.
The questions posed by the graffiti should not be left as questions, Roseberry argued, but should be answered by a church which is self-assured and confident of its worldview. Instead, in an attempt to relate to a world without Christ, the Church has weakly posed the questions and left them unanswered.
Roseberry writes that “what we’re seeing in Canterbury— [is] questions everywhere, but no intention of finding answers—a cathedral full of inquiry, but little hunger for the proclamation of the truth. The artist asks, ‘Are you there?’ and the Dean calls it profound.
“But it’s only profound if someone dares to answer. Otherwise, it’s just another monument to unbelief.”
Roseberry also wrote that the decision to deface Canterbury Cathedral with temporary graffiti, combined with the Church of England’s decision to break centuries of precedent by appointing a woman as Archbishop of Canterbury, combined to tell a concerning story.
“Put these headlines together, and you see an embarrassing and tragic problem. The Church isn’t being murdered by outsiders. She’s doing herself in. This is not vandalism or persecution. It’s suicide," he said.
The installation was also condemned in a piece by Simon Evans in Spiked! Magazine, a publication with a Marxist background.
Evans described the project as “tiresome” and as a “desecration” and said that those behind the project had failed to consider their role as stewards of a history stretching back 1,400 years.
He said, “In a time when we fear that many of our most cherished traditions are being traduced, and our most fundamental national institutions hollowed out and deracinated, it is surely with some relief that we realise that one such tradition is still alive and well – that of the trendy vicar.”
