Norwich Cathedral withdraws blood libel leaflet

A recently made short film about the lives of Jewish communities in Norwich and Lincoln has led to Norwich Cathedral withdrawing a leaflet about the medieval blood libel of William of Norwich from its Chapel of the Holy Innocents.

The film The Innocents, which was commissioned by the Jewish Small Communities Network, looks at the lives of Jewish communities in Lincoln and Norwich and is due to be shown at Cinema City in Norwich on December 4 as part of a UK Jewish Film Festival project, British-Jewish Life on Film.
 
In the film, Dr Marian Prinsley, president of Norwich Synagogue, said: “This is an issue that has been festering within the Jewish community. It’s not an issue that we’ve ever been willing to tackle. This is still a chapel which tells the story of Jewish people supposedly killing babies.”
 
The Very Rev Dr Andrew Braddock, Dean of Norwich Cathedral, who also features in the film, agreed to remove the display, acknowledging it was not appropriate: "As soon as the concerns were raised, I thought 'you are right' and I shared those concerns. So we took away the previous leaflet and we have started a conversation about how we face into this part of our history.
 
“Norwich Cathedral values its good relationships with the Norwich Synagogue built up over many years. It has therefore been keen to respond positively to concerns recently raised by members of the Synagogue community about how the history of William of Norwich and the blood libel has been presented in the Cathedral.
 
“The Norwich blood libel – the false accusation made in the twelfth century that Jews ritually murdered a boy called William (who was then buried in the Cathedral) - has played a tragic part in the long and dark history of anti-Semitism.
 
"Representatives of the Synagogue and Cathedral are working together to address this history, as they continue to build positive relationships between the two communities,” said Dean Andrew.
 
Both Norwich and Lincoln have historically been associated with medieval blood libels, with the first recorded case of a blood libel being that of William of Norwich in 1144.
 
Dr Marian Prinsley and Dean Andrew will both be taking part in a Q&A after the screening at Cinema City.
 
Click here for more details of the film showing.

Read more on this story from The Jewish Chronicle.

Pictured above is Norwich Cathedral.