Church in a spin

Passion in Manchester

Easter weekend TV is always peppered by religious programmes. (The BBC Press Office calls it an Easter parade of programmes - hmmm). Forgot to watch the first Private life of an Easter Masterpiece - on the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci, but the second, on Salvador Dali and his Christ of St John of the Cross was v. interesting (particularly as I'm hoping to drive from here to the tiny seaside town of Portligat where he painted the background this summer.) Interesting how Christians, well everyone really, is divided by this picture. I think its fab, and deserves the title of Masterpiece, but clearly some don't. Can a piece of art - or indeed music - be Christian, if the artist purportedly isn't - as some were keen to claim of Dali?

That's a question that leads to the Manchester Passion. Before the TV critics lay into it, let me say I thought it was a moving programme, part passion play, part rock opera, part community event -with some of the those in the cross clearly Christians, but many others not, by their own admission - a Muslim who was there because Jesus was a great prophet, and a woman who had a Muslim background but 'no religion' were both interviewed. The performers were a mixed bunch too. 'Hardman' Keith Allen, 55 degrees north star, Darren Morfitt who played Jesus, and the Batman Begins star Tim Booth who played a brilliant Judas, I thought. All Christians? It didn't actually matter - well not for the impact of the event, at least. For me, having so many different people with different beliefs and backgrounds added to the sense of an event with global and not just individual importance.

I didn't used to like Manchester. As a child we went there once or twice from the Wirral, and were unimpressed by the drive in through grey depressing housing estates and Victorian slums and the centre wasn't much better. Two visits in twenty years seemed about right!

Then came the IRA bombing and Manchester started again. Two years ago we held our church communications annual conference in the heart of the city, based at the Cathedral, Deansgate and the Urbis centre - and experienced something of the transformation. We, thirty or so of us, were all impressed by the place - and the pride in the city expressed by people like Tony Wilson, one time TV presenter and Hacienda impressario for the Manchester music 'scene'.

He, Anthony Wilson, appeared again in the Manchester Passion. Blink and you missed him - he was leaning against the hotdog stand outside the Cathedral with Peter. A little later, the stallholder was seen reading the Da Vinci Code. Why? We may never know. Surely everyone's read it by now?! (More on this when the film comes out!) More seriously this was a moving piece of TV, first broadcast at 9pm live on BBC 3 - which added to the sense of an event. Some of the Manchester music worked brilliantly, some didn't- Mary singing Oasis's Cast no Shadow didn't work for me either theologically (surely they didn't 'take his soul') or musically - a sixteen piece string orchestra is always going to struggle to make a dirge sound interesting. It's not an anti-Oasis thing -I thought Allen's Pilate singing Wonderwall with Jesus was great, just about avoiding the cringe factor.

Respect to the BBC (their religious department is just down the road so that must have helped) for pulling off a logistical nightmare, and all credit to the security people for managing to keep any drunks and ne'er-do-wells off camera!

And here's a pic I took of Cadaquez, just round the corner from Portligat-see above. HappyEaster!

posted by John Carter @ 7:00 am