Cincinnati church considers removing Confederate memorials

9/10/2017
ASSOCIATED PRESS

CINCINNATI  — Leaders of a historic Cincinnati church are considering whether a pair of Confederate memorials should be removed.

Christ Church Cathedral has a stained glass memorial to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and a plaque honoring Confederate general and Episcopal Bishop Leonidas Polk. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports Dean Gail Greenwell called for their removal during a recent sermon.

Greenwell questions why the church lacks memorials dedicated to abolitionists like Sojourner Truth or civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

The Rev. Mark Bomar, president of the Baptist Ministers Conference of Greater Cincinnati and Vicinity, says removing the memorials is a step in the right direction.

Greenwell’s efforts come in the wake of racially motivated violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. A parish council will consider Greenwell’s request.