Dear Senator:

Have you ever heard of the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation?

I hadn't until last night when I attended the 25th anniversary concert of the Notre Dame Folk Choir in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus. One of the most moving pieces I heard was based on the Coventry Litany. You can find the complete text of this prayer on the last page of this letter. I was curious about its origins so I did some research.

Coventry is a city outside of London that was the target of a huge bombing raid by the Luftwaffe during World War II. On the night of November 14, 1940, more than 500 German planes dropped an array of lethal explosives and incendiary bombs onto the city. More than 500 people were killed and more than 4,000 homes were destroyed. The Germans coined a word for this new form of devastation of a civilian area by air attack. They promised to "coventrate" the rest of the country if Britain didn't surrender.

The British government responded by changing its policy of targeting only military and industrial sites in Germany to allow for more indiscriminate bombing of the German people. During one of the first such bombing runs, British planes flew against a lightly defended city. Along with bombs, the planes dropped leaflets headed, "In Revenge for Coventry."

One of the structures destroyed in Coventry had been the centuries-old Coventry Cathedral. The day after the bombing the decision was made to rebuild. But the provost of the cathedral wanted to lead people away from their feelings of bitterness and hatred toward Germans. In a Christmas broadcast, he described a new cathedral rising from the ruins that would be dedicated to forgiveness, reconciliation and peace.

The cathedral was eventually built. It stands today not on top of the old one but beside it. In the ruined church a cross formed of charred medieval roof timbers lies upon an altar of rubble. The words "Father Forgive?" from Jesus's utterance, as he was nailed to the cross, of "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do?" are inscribed on the sanctuary wall. Every Friday a service is held in the old church's ruins. The Litany of Reconciliation is recited. The Cathedral also operates a Ministry of Peace and Reconciliation that provides spiritual and practical support in areas of conflict throughout the world.

A retired cleric who helped develop the Coventry Cathedral's mission, the Very Rev. A. H. Dammers, writes that the German bombing of Coventry met the definition of terrorism in that it was an organized system of intimidation carried out by a group trying to coerce a government or community. He goes on to note that the British government's response to the attack - the retaliatory bombing of German population centers - failed to break Germany's morale. It is for this reason that he believes Britain and the United States must rethink their strategy in the so-called War on Terrorism.

The way to reduce terrorism today, he argues, is not by trying to kill or capture every terrorist but to have our representatives "meet and forgive representatives of the terrorists and seek forgiveness also for past and present wrongs." The next step, he says, would involve a "massive global plan for the reduction of social, political, and economic injustices."

As I read his words and those of the Litany, I can't help but think of the response to the 9/11 attacks espoused by President Bush, a self-described Christian, and approved by a majority of the public and Congress. Where is forgiveness in the Bush Doctrine of Preemptive War, a step beyond retaliation into anticipatory retaliation? How can we seek forgiveness for past wrongs and injustices when new ones are being committed in our names at Abu Ghraib and interrogation centers around the world?

Father Dammers asks if we can dare hope for a change of heart along the lines he describes. I find it hard to imagine in the case of President Bush and his supporters. During the runup to the Iraq invasion, when a group of families who had lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks declared, "Our grief is not a cry for war," their voices were ignored. Despite not having found any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, President Bush refuses to say he was wrong in ordering the invasion, and he has yet to ask for forgiveness from the American public, let alone Iraqis.

Listed below are the names of the coalition soldiers killed in Iraq in the past week. Father Dammers suggests that the role of churches should be to remind representatives that mutual forgiveness is the only basis on which true peace and reconciliation can be established between former enemies. As you read the names of this week's dead, think of the months and months of letters like this you've received from us already. Now think ahead to a grim accumulation of years into the future. Eventually it dawns on everyone that attack and retaliation, grief and vengeance is a self-sustaining cycle. It can be ended permanently only through the radical approach of mutual forgiveness and reconciliation. Won't you become a voice for that approach now?

Writing on behalf of
Michiana Peace & Justice Coalition, I am

Ed Cohen