DELIVER US FROM EVIL
Papal prayer to end terror at 9/11 site
Pope Francis condemned terrorism and made a passionate plea for world peace Friday at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum after an emotional meeting with 20 relatives of those who died in the al Qaeda attacks.
Speaking at an interfaith service in Foundation Hall, the pontiff blamed a “mindset which knows only violence, hatred and revenge” for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that took the lives of nearly 3,000 people in New York, at the Pentagon and in a Shanksville, Pa., field where one of the hijacked jets crashed.
“I met some of the families of the fallen first responders. Meeting them made me see once again how acts of destruction are never impersonal,” a subdued Francis said.
“They always have a face, a concrete story, names. In those family members, we see the face of pain, a pain which still touches us and cries out to heaven. Here, grief is palpable. This is a place where we cry.”
Monica IkenMurphy, whose husband, bond trader Michael Patrick Iken, 37, died in the south tower, praised Francis for choosing to visit Ground Zero.
“This is where loved ones lost their lives, and this is the way we are going to honor them, by having someone who is holy, closest to God, come here and bless this site,” said IkenMurphy, one of the relatives who met with the pontiff before the service. “I couldn’t be prouder to share this memorial and museum with him.”
Joining the pope were Timothy Cardinal Dolan as well as Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist and Hindu leaders. Several offered or sang prayers calling for peace to an au dience of about 500 that included Sen. Charles Schumer, Gov. Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio and former mayors Mike Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani.
Cuomo presented Francis with a special cross made out of steel salvaged from the Twin Towers.
Beforehand, the pope prayed and placed a white rose on the pool of one of the two fountains that commemorate the footprints of the fallen towers.
“The flowing water is also a symbol of our tears,” he said. “This is a place where we shed tears, we weep out of a sense of helplessness in the face of injustice, murder, and the failure to settle conflicts through dialogue.”
The pontiff praised how New Yorkers came together in the wake of the worst terror attack on US soil.
“You demonstrated the powerful solidarity born of mutual support, love and selfsacrifice,” he said. “New York City firemen walked into the crumbling towers, with no concern for their own wellbeing. Many succumbed, their sacrifice enabled great numbers to be saved.”