London’s famous Southwark Cathedral became known for the presence of a stray cat, affectionately named Doorkins Magnificat, who made the building her home for 12 years before passing away on September 30.
In an unusual move, Andrew Nunn, the Dean of Southwark Cathedral hosted a service of thanksgiving. “She was enormously popular and had a massive Twitter following — and was also the focus of a lot of people’s visits to the cathedral,” Nunn told adding that some people who could not have their own cat in central London even saw her as their own pet.
“When she died the response was huge, and we knew we had to do something — there was no way in which we could just ignore the fact — and why would you, we loved her, and she gave a lot to our life,” he said. “It felt entirely appropriate.” Doorkins made Southwark Cathedral her home in 2008 after visiting between Christmas and New Year in search of food.
Nunn told he had “no regrets” about the service, and said he was taken aback by how many people had said they had wept watching the live stream. “There’s such a lot of emotion around at the moment, and sometimes, something like that can just release it for people… It was heartwarming as well as emotional,” he said. Doorkins reached people he couldn’t have done, Nunn added. “I got used to the fact that she had more Twitter followers than I did — and that she brought more people to church than I will ever do,” Nunn added. “People came in and they wouldn’t necessarily be churchgoers, but they’d come in to find the cat — and I think that they found themselves very welcome. Ending up in a sacred space and spending time with a cat was good for people.”
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