Remembering 9/11

Catholic New York, the newspaper of the archdiocese of New York, has an article on priests who were in New York on 9/11 and what they recall of that terrible day.

Father James P. Hayes, S.S.S., is pastor of St. Andrew's Church near One Police Plaza. On 9/11 he went to the World Trade Center site, where he saw a group of firefighters from Rescue 5 suiting up to enter the South Tower; he said a prayer with them and went with them into the building, where he searched through stores in the mall looking for victims. He said that he came out minutes after the second plane hit. All of the Rescue 5 firefighters died.

The entire article is here.

In the same issue, Father Bob Pagliari, C.SS.R., Ph.D., writes about the anniversary of 9/11:

So we must look to the spiritual leaders of our time, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc., to preach harmony over hatred. We must trust that they will impart to everyone in the pews this wisdom of the marriage between faith and love. What God has joined together let no one put asunder.

The rest of that article is here.

We were in New York on that fateful day five years ago and will never forget it. Let us honor the sacrifice of all who died by speaking of those events with honesty and self-reflection, and let us not use those events for purposes contrary to our heritage as Catholics and Americans.