New Canon Pastor appointed - Truro Cathedral

Chris Ramsey, Chairman Truro and
Falmouth Amnesty International Group,
looks back at a busy early summer.
Between 25 May and 7 June the result of 12 months
work with Canon Philip Lambert finally came to
fruition with a series of events in and around the
Cathedral to celebrate the vision of British Lawyer
Peter Benenson in 1961 that lead to the creation of
Amnesty International, the worldwide movement of
people who campaign for internationally recognized
human rights for all.
At the heart of the celebrations was an exhibition in
the Cathedral of art work by Cornish secondary
school students on human rights themes generated
from a competition run with the aid of artist Phil
Whiting. This gave us the opportunity to work with
over 200 14 and 15 year olds in seven schools and
we were incredibly impressed by how they engaged
with such difficult issues as torture, the abuse of
women and child trafficking and created an amazing
range of art work of such maturity and impact.
The opening reception in the Cathedral included a
spine tingling performance of new work from local
composer Russell Pascoe entitled “The Harrowing of
Hell”. Taking as its starting point the story of Christ
descending into hell and freeing the dead, the work
explores the nature of suffering for those whose
torture does not have a miraculous end and thus has
a strong resonance
with the work Amnesty
undertakes to remove
the continuing
worldwide scourge of
torture.
On Amnesty’s
effective 50 th birthday
(Saturday 28 May) the
United Nations
Association, Christian
Aid, Medical
Foundation for torture
victims and local Quakers joined us at High Cross
offering the public opportunities to take action on
human rights issues. The Mayor of Truro cut our
birthday cake and joined us in a toast to freedom,
and during the course of the day we managed to
persuade 50 passers-by (including a plucky Canon
Lambert ) to be photographed in our Amnesty cage
prison.
At the final event on 7 June there was an evening of
Theatre and Discussion in the Chapter House. This
began with a performance of a piece entitled
“Rendition Monologues” by London based human
rights theatre company ICEANDFIRE based on the
horrendous practice of flying people suspected
(sometimes on quite tenuous grounds) of involvement
in terrorist activities to countries where they could be
tortured away from the gaze of western media and
public opinion. This was followed by a “Question
Time “ style event at which Kate Allen (Director of
Amnesty International UK) joined Bishop Tim on the
panel to discuss questions on contemporary human
rights issues raised by members of the audience.
The Truro and Falmouth Amnesty Group were
absolutely delighted with the success of our 50 th
birthday events. Philip Lambert and all the Cathedral
staff we worked with could not have been more
supportive and helpful.
The organisation’s 50 th birthday is a once in a
lifetime opportunity to really promote the work of
Amnesty International and engage with the
community about the myriad of human rights abuses
that still plague the world. Perhaps most important is
that it gives us the opportunity to show people that we
can do something about these abuses and that by
acting together we can make a real difference to the
lives of individuals thousands of miles away from the
beauty and peace of Cornwall who may be enduring
terrible suffering.
FUTURE DATES:
Saturday 22nd October at 7.30pm
The Benson Lecture given by Dame Anne Owers will
cover some of the issues of unjust imprisonment and
human rights.
Sunday 11th December (World Human Rights Day)
The Revd Professor Nicholas Sagovsky former Canon
Theologian of Westminster Abbey will be preacher at the
Morning and Evensong services.
Truro and Falmouth Amnesty International Group
We meet on the second Wednesday of each month at
7.30pm in the church hall of the RC Church of St Piran and
our Lady of the Portal, St Austell Street, Truro. Alternatively
we can be contacted through our secretary, Margaret
George either by e-mail at mmargaretg@gmail.com or by
telephoning 01872 240253.
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