Archbishop’s high jinks at cathedral

♦ If you can’t have fun in a cathedral you don’t know what fun is, the Archbishop of Canterbury yesterday told a conference.

Lengthy services, solemn events and uncomfortable pews mean most people might not associate cathedrals with enjoyment, but the Most Rev Justin Welby is adamant that they are wrong.

“Cathedrals are fun,” he told the National Cathedrals Conference in Manchester Cathedral via video message. “There’s just so many things you can do.”

He said that while Dean of Liverpool he had organised a Hallowe’en service which involved a cathedral canon being wheeled in in a coffin.

“You must have fun in cathedrals. God has given them as places of celebration and joy and good news,” he said.