Scottish Catholic Observer

“My cathedral staff and I anticipated that some…might object, but thought it would be minimal, as nothing demeaning was intended in the spider being near the church,” said Archbishop Terrence Prendergast. “I regret that we had not sufficiently understood that others would see this event so differently.

“I say to those who were shocked that I understand that this would have been upsetting for them and that I regret that a well-intentioned effort to cooperate in a celebration was anything but that for them.”

A number of individuals took issue with the artistic idea and brought forward criticism about its ‘sacreligious’, ‘demonic’ and ‘disrespectful’ placement on top of a sacred place.

The spider, which goes by the name of Kumo, is one of a pair of two giant robots, that were made by the Nantes, France-based street theatre company, La Machine.

The group consists of artists, technicians and performers, and travelled to Ottawa from July 27-30 as part of Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations.

A show was put on by the theatre company featuring robots, music and specials effects, which attracted crowds numbering in their thousands.

Kumo the spider began the show on the evening of July 27, where it ‘woke up’ to organ music being played inside the cathedral, before, as it was suspended from cranes, climbed down from its towers and snow fell down as part of the show’s special effects.The spectacle drew both criticism and support from the archbishop on social media.

“I don’t understand how allowing a mechanical spider to stand on the cathedral is anything but disturbing, disappointing and even shameful,” said Diane Bartlett on the archbishop’s Facebook wall.

Meanwhile Kris Dmytrenko came to the archbishop’s defence.“While the viewer may find the juxtaposition jarring, I gather it’s supposed to be,” he wrote. “But sacrilegious? C’mon, give your archbishop a break.

“This civic engagement with art recalls the Vatican’s Courtyard of the Gentiles project. Culture is a bridge.”

Archbishop Prendergast said that taking part in the show was a decision taken as part of a wish to engage with the wider community.

“We make use of the city to obtain permits for our events, and they are most cooperative,” he said. “The Good Friday Way of the Cross lets us have access to public venues (Supreme Court, Parliament Hill, the plaza in front of the National Gallery), and the police offer a security escort.

“We try to be good citizens, good neighbours and cooperative.

“To the extent that we did see symbolism, it was that, afterwards, Our Lady would continue to reign, something I mentioned in a tweet right after the Thursday performance, as people I respect began to make their objections known.”

The cathedral staff were approached by the event organisers last year, who wanted to place Kumo on the cathedral’s roof as it was across the street from the National Art Gallery.

The gallery features a large sculpture of a spider named Maman in the courtyard entranceway, with the archbishop saying that it was to appear as if Kumo was approaching Maman.

“Cathedral staff were shown other cathedrals and public buildings in Europe that had been involved,” said Archbishop Prendergast. “It seemed innocent enough.

“I guess we thought people would see this as a sign the church is involved in Ottawa’s celebrations.

“Many people, both Catholic and others, English and Francophone, remarked how pleased they were that Notre Dame was involved in our celebration of Canada 150.”