Southwark Cathedral holds Thanksgiving Service for Doorkins

Doorkins on Twitter

A livestreamed Thanksgiving service was held at Southwark Cathedral last Wednesday, for Doorkins Magnificat, a much-lived furry resident who died last month.

Cathedral Dean Rev Andrew Nunn, told CNN: "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...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. It felt entirely appropriate."

Not much is known about her earlier life but she was first seen as a stray living around Southwark market. She ventured into Southwark Cathedral during the Christmas holidays in 2008 in search of food. After a while she settled in and for many years would be photographed by visitors, sleeping in the pews or curled up in the Christmas crib.

She met the Queen in 2013 when Her Majesty came to see a window installed for the Diamond Jubilee. In 2018 a stone corbel depicting her, designed by students from the City & Guilds London Institute was unveiled. Doorkins has also been immortalised in a children's book Doorkins the Cathedral Cat, by Lisa Gutwein. When Prince William came to open the new London Bridge station in 2018 the dean gave him a copy of the book for his children.

Doorkins is named after Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist and famous atheist, because Cathedral staff say, it took her a long time to cross the cathedral doorway.

LINKS

Watch the service here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTg62XS31gI

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DoorkinsM

Southwark Cathedral - https://cathedral.southwark.anglican.org/

Book - Doorkins the Cathedral Cat - click below

www.eden.co.uk/shop/doorkins-the-cathedral-cat-4522778.html