U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during an interfaith memorial service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing in Boston, April 18, 2013.
WHITE HOUSE —
Three days after the bombings at the Boston Marathon, President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, local officials and religious leaders honored those killed and wounded - and the spirit of Bostonians - at a service in Boston.
The Obamas were seated in the front pew at Boston's Church of the Holy Cross as religious leaders paid tribute to the dead, wounded, first responders, and the people of Boston.
Reverend Liz Walker of the Roxbury Presbyterian Church spoke about strength of community in the face of evil.
"We are members of one another, a community of resilience, hard-pressed but not defeated, confounded but not consumed," she said.
There were tributes from other Christian denominations, and Jewish and Islamic faith leaders.
Boston Honors Bombing Victims
1/11U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at an interfaith memorial service for the victims of the bombing at the Boston Marathon at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, Massachusetts, April 18, 2013.
U.S. President Barack Obama joins other public officials and religious leaders gathered in Boston for an interfaith memorial service for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this week. The service, called the "Healing of our City," was held at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
2/11People attend the interfaith memorial service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing in Boston, April 18, 2013.
U.S. President Barack Obama joins other public officials and religious leaders gathered in Boston for an interfaith memorial service for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this week. The service, called the "Healing of our City," was held at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
3/11Nursing students Katie Robinson, left, and Megan Beach listen to a broadcast on their phones outside an interfaith service attended by President Barack Obama at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, held in the wake of Boston Marathon explosions.
U.S. President Barack Obama joins other public officials and religious leaders gathered in Boston for an interfaith memorial service for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this week. The service, called the "Healing of our City," was held at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
4/11U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama arrive for an inter-faith memorial service for the victims of the bombing at the Boston Marathon in Boston, April 18, 2013.
U.S. President Barack Obama joins other public officials and religious leaders gathered in Boston for an interfaith memorial service for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this week. The service, called the "Healing of our City," was held at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
5/11A memento of flowers in a running shoe rests at a makeshift memorial in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, April 18, 2013, a few blocks from the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
U.S. President Barack Obama joins other public officials and religious leaders gathered in Boston for an interfaith memorial service for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this week. The service, called the "Healing of our City," was held at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
6/11Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 18, 2013, before the House Homeland Security Committee. Napolitano says the FBI wants to speak with two men seen in at least one video from the Boston Marathon, but she says she isn't calling them suspects.
U.S. President Barack Obama joins other public officials and religious leaders gathered in Boston for an interfaith memorial service for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this week. The service, called the "Healing of our City," was held at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
7/11A line of investigators is form as they enter a building adjacent to one of the blast sites near the Boston Marathon finish line, in Boston, April 18, 2013.
U.S. President Barack Obama joins other public officials and religious leaders gathered in Boston for an interfaith memorial service for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this week. The service, called the "Healing of our City," was held at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
8/11Investigators inspect the area between the two blast sites near the Boston Marathon finish line, Thursday, April 18, 2013, in Boston. Boston remained under a heavy security presence, with scores of National Guard troops gathering among armored Humvees in
U.S. President Barack Obama joins other public officials and religious leaders gathered in Boston for an interfaith memorial service for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this week. The service, called the "Healing of our City," was held at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
9/11Local residents attend a candlelight vigil in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, April 16, 2013, where eight-year-old victim Martin Richard lived.
U.S. President Barack Obama joins other public officials and religious leaders gathered in Boston for an interfaith memorial service for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this week. The service, called the "Healing of our City," was held at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
10/11Investigators comb through the post finish line area of the Boston Marathon at Boylston Street, two days after two bombs exploded just before the finish line, April 17, 2013, in Boston.
U.S. President Barack Obama joins other public officials and religious leaders gathered in Boston for an interfaith memorial service for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this week. The service, called the "Healing of our City," was held at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
11/11A worker returns a bag containing a runner's personal effects near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, after explosions killed three and injured more than 140 in Boston, April 16, 2013.
U.S. President Barack Obama joins other public officials and religious leaders gathered in Boston for an interfaith memorial service for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this week. The service, called the "Healing of our City," was held at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
Previous slide
Next slide
Mayor Tom Menino paid tribute to those killed in the attacks: 8-year-old Martin Richard, 29-year-old Krystle Campbell, and 23-year-old Chinese student Lu Lingzi.
Saying nothing can "tear down" the resilience of Boston, he said the city and its marathon will come back even stronger next year.
"It will push us forward, push us, thousands and thousands and thousands of people, across the finish line next year. Because this is Boston - a city with courage, compassion and strength that knows no bounds," said Menino.
"We will have accountability without vengeance, vigilance without fear, and we will remember, I hope and pray, long after the buzz of Boylston Street is back and the media has turned its attention elsewhere, that the grace this tragedy exposed is the best of who we are," said Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.
April 15, 2013: Twin blasts at the Boston Marathon kill at least 3, injure more than 140
September 11, 2001: Hijacked jets crash into World Trade Center, Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field killing nearly 3,000
July 27, 1996: Atlanta Summer Olympics bombing kills 2, injures more than 100
April 19, 1995: Car bomb at Oklahoma City federal building kills 168, injures more than 500
February 26, 1993: Van explosion in World Trade Center garage kills 6, injures more than 1,000
December 29, 1975: Bomb at New York's LaGuardia Airport kills 11, injures 75
September 16, 1920: Bombing in New York's Wall Street area kills 40, injures hundreds
Obama called the resolve of the people of Boston "the greatest rebuke" to those who committed "this heinous act."
"If they sought to intimidate us, to terrorize us, to shake us from those values that Deval described, the values that make us who we are as Americans, well it should be pretty clear by now that they picked the wrong city to do it. Not here in Boston," the president said.
Obama said Bostonians "will run again" and the country will be with them on their long journey of recovery.
To those who perpetrated the attacks and anyone who would do harm to Americans, he said, "Yes we will find you, and yes you will face justice."
White House officials said the Obamas visited with family members of Krystle Campbell, one of the three killed in the marathon attacks.
Obama also stopped at Massachusetts General Hospital, where many of the wounded from the attacks are undergoing treatment.
