If today’s story in The Washington Post is on the money, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami will be speaking at Washington National Cathedral on Thursday evening September 7. This has been in the works for a couple of weeks, and until the State Department says publicly that they will issue Khatami a visa, the deal isn’t entirely done, but that process must have progressed far enough for the Cathedral, and the Post, to feel comfortable in going public with the possibility.
My understanding is that Khatami, who is coming to the U. S. to attend a conference at the U. N., was approached by several local organizations about extending his visit to speak in D. C. He expressed a desire to speak in a religious setting. The Cathedral’s Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation under Canon John L. Peterson took up the task from there.
According to the Post, Khatami “plans to speak on the dialogue of civilizations and the role the three Abrahamic faiths — Islam, Judaism and Christianity — can play in the peace process. Plans call for the event, at the National Cathedral at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 7, to be free and open to the public.”
The Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation previously sponsored a gathering of religious leaders to address issues of global poverty, and to rally support for the Millennium Development Goals.
Bishop John Chane and other groups in the diocese have also been involved in numerous interfaith activities, including the upcoming September 11 Unity Walk, which you can learn more about here.