Cathedral

Fate Of Siota

7 'HE following report on the fate of the Selwyn Memorial Cathedral of St. Luke, at Siota, BSI, is given in the “Southern Cross Log” and is com

piled from information supplied by

the Rt. Rev. Walter Baddeley. Bishop of Melanesia : WHEN the Japanese had advanced as far south as Rabaul in January. 1942, and in view of possible air raids on Government and mission centres in the Solomons, or even of a Japanese occupation of the Solomons, the Bishop removed the following irreplaceable trea sures from the cathedral to the bush village of Tantalau, on Malaita: The Bishop Patteson Mat—the sleep ing mat in which the people of Nukapu wrapped the dead body of the Bishop before placing it in the canoe which they thrust out from the shore across the

lagoon towards the off-lying “Southern Cross. ’ This mat has been kept in a casket on the sanctuary of the cathedral.

The Bishop Selwyn Pastoral Staff. This very beautiful piece of craftsmanship— m ebony and silver—was bequeathed to Melanesia after Selwyn’s death, and normally stands by the Bishop’s throne in Siota Cathedral. It is used only in services held in the cathedral, it being deemed too valuable a relic to be carried about by the Bishop in his wanderings by schooner or launch. The Bishop nor mally uses a staff made and inlaid throughout its entire length with trocus (or mother-o’-pearl) shell—a very fine piece of Melanesian art.

The Cathedral Altar vessels. These were given, in the first place, to Bishop Patteson in 1861 for the use of “The Bishop of the Western Isles of the Pacific.”

WHEN the Japanese landed at Tulagi in May, and began to patrol through the Gela villages, other valuable fittings and furniture were re moved from the cathedral and scattered

in churches at Belaga, Boromoli, Vata pura and elsewhere. These included the very fine inlaid cross which has for years been the centrepiece of the reredos, the standard candle-sticks from the sanc tuary, and the cathedral vestments.

The Japanese did not occupy Siota, but patrols occasionally passed through the station.

On one evening, early in July, a Japanese plane dropped three small bombs, one of which “blew in" the north east corner of the cathedral, and pieces of shell also damaged the altar, some of the fine wooden pillars in the nave, and the Bishop’s throne.

On August 7, when the US forces made their first big landings in the Central Solomons, Siota was heavily bombed and machine-gunned. It is said that nine large bombs were dropped. Most of the newly-re-built mothercraft buildings were blasted or burnt, and the cathedral itself suffered badly.

After the " American occupation, the main body of the cathedral was used as a hospital, and it is much to be regretted that a certain amount of vandalism took place within the walls of the shattered cathedral. Some of our friends with the “scribbling on the wall” mentality, even prised out much of the shell-work from altar, font and lectern. rE “powers that be” later made some amends by thoroughly cleaning up the cathedral: Mr. Reynolds super vised the replacement of the bamboo walls by leaf and some of the larger holes in the roof were repaired; an artist in a US construction battalion did some very fine re-decoration of the ahar; and the Bishop re-hallowed the cathedral, and it has now long since been again in regular use for worship—one of the Gela clergy being now “in residence.”