Coventry Cathedral, in England, also suffered the terror of the Second World War. When the cathedral was destroyed by German bomb attacks on 14/15 November 1940, then Provost Richard Howard had the words “Father forgive” chiselled into the ruins of the sanctuary wall. Above these words, on the altar, stands the original Coventry Cross of Nails. In the smoking ruins of the cathedral after the destruction, some mediaeval carpenter’s nails were salvaged from the beams of the vaulted ceiling. Three of these nails were later bound together in the shape of a cross. Thus, remnants of the destruction were turned into a new sign of Christian hope, showing that the wounds of war were healing.

Since then steps of reconciliation have been taken in various ways around the world in the spirit of the Cross of Nails. More than 200 Crosses of Nails have found a home in places where the people beneath these crosses have chosen to lay aside old differences and live in a spirit of reconciliation. Today, at Coventry cathedral, Canon David Porter is responsible for international reconciliation work. 160 of these Cross of Nails Centres are engaged in a lively dialogue with Coventry Cathedral, including Dresden Frauenkirche, with the Coventry Cross of Nails on its altar. The Ecumenical Memorial Route in Dresden is one form of reconciliation made real.