St John's Cathedral, Portsmouth

The Cathedral of St John the Evangelist in Portsmouth is a handsome Victorian, brick construction which became the centre of the new Roman diocese of Portsmouth in 1887. The Anglican parish church of St Thomas became the Church of England’s cathedral in 1935, so at least the Catholic Church cannot be blamed if confusion exists between the two, seeing as it got there first.

High-ceilinged and replete with various, Roman-style statues, it very much looks the part. Furthermore, it was left open during the day for pious individuals to pray; though impious by Roman standards, I, too, was able to enter and take photographs.

Something rather untypical of Catholicism, however, was a vinyl banner attached to some railings by the busy road. ‘God has a plan for you!’, it proclaimed. This is something you would more likely hear from the podium of a large, charismatic church, though the statement must surely be held to be correct by all types of theist who consider God to be both wise, powerful and interested in human affairs. God’s will for our life is primarily found in scripture. And what is that plan? It is not usually to make us rich and entirely disease-free, nor to repeatedly attend church in order to reduce our centuries in the purgatorial flames. Rather, we are to come to Jesus Christ, to Him alone, and to Him directly:

I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. John 10:9

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