Letters: The mass appeal of cathedrals

Mass appeal

Sir: The upcoming ‘rave’ at Peterborough Cathedral follows the trajectory of using this sacred space as a mere entertainment venue (‘Raving mad’, 14 September). Previous secular attempts to commercialise include ‘experiences’ of the moon, dinosaurs, the deep sea and light shows.

I assume the rave organisers did not witness the cathedral in June when a Saturday evening vigil mass was celebrated by the Catholic Bishop of East Anglia for local Catholics. When used for its original and sacred purpose, Peterborough Cathedral was filled with Catholics participating in the divine liturgy. Many were standing for want of seats, like some of our churches on Sundays.

It was worth renting out the cathedral, not only to celebrate mass with other Peterborough Catholics, but to show what was and what could have been had England stayed on the narrow path. While I agree with Douglas Murray that it is awe-inspiring to see the building when empty, it is abundantly more uplifting to see the cathedral rightly filled.

Simon Charles Elliott

Peterborough

Class act

Sir: Claude Elliott, the former provost of Eton, may have described the teaching of English as ‘Jeans and homosexuality’ (Notes, 14 September) but he did give permission for a play production, albeit with the proviso that ‘It should not be too good’. Neither was he musical: overhearing the choir practising a descant, he assumed there was a riot and tried to restore order.

Rhidian Llewellyn

London SW14

Poll position

Sir: You assert in the Diary (14 September) that The Spectator doesn’t endorse candidates. This is doubtless true. Yet as secretary I recall your predecessor Dominic Lawson informing the board at its quarterly meeting in March 1992 that he had arranged to bring forward by two days the publication date that would otherwise have coincided with the general election on 9 April. This, he explained, would allow him to offer readers guidance on how to cast their votes.