Washington National Cathedral To Remove Windows Honoring Confederate Leaders

The Washington National Cathedral, a central landmark in the U.S. capital, has announced its decision to remove two stained glass windows honoring Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.

The two 4-by-6-foot windows “are not only inconsistent with our current mission to serve as a house of prayer for all people, but also a barrier to our important work on racial justice and racial reconciliation,” church leaders wrote in a statement published Wednesday on the cathedral’s website. “Their association with racial oppression, human subjugation and white supremacy does not belong in the sacred fabric of this Cathedral.”