Obama to speak on 9/11 at National Cathedral

The National Cathedral holds Tour and Tea every Tuesday and Wednesday. On the tour a docent talks about this Cross, made from stone fragments from the Pentagon after it was attacked on 9/11. (Katherine Frey - THE WASHINGTON POST) President Obama will end the Sept. 11 anniversary weekend by speaking that Sunday evening at the National Cathedral, often a place of symbolically important interfaith events. The White House announced the speech on Tuesday.

Obama will speak during the “Concert for Hope,” which also features opera singer Denyce Graves, country singer Alan Jackson and R&B’s Patti LaBelle. The concert follows a day of spiritual and contemplative events at the Cathedral, including a morning interfaith service and a forum discussion about compassion with writer Karen Armstrong.

The Cathedral hosted a major interfaith event in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks, and this year has three days of events to “mark the passing of a decade since a day that changed the life of every American,” said Samuel T. Lloyd III, the Cathedral’s dean, in a statement.

The events will also mark the re-opening of the building after last week’s earthquake damaged the Gothic Cathedral, toppling three spires that are the highest spots in the city. Cathedral officials say they are spending the week inspecting the hundreds of other limestone ornamental sculptures on the building to make sure nothing could fall.
A piece of moon rock is embedded in the Space WIndow, located on the south side of the National Cathedral. It is pointed out by a docent during the tea tour Tuesday, June, 28, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post) (Katherine Frey - THE WASHINGTON POST)