Pope Francis At Ground Zero: Grief Still ‘Palpable’

Pope Francis Ground Zero
Photo Courtesy: UPI

NEW YORK, Sept. 25 (UPI) — Pope Francis encouraged peace and reconciliation, and denounced destruction as a means to solve conflict Friday as he spoke among religious leaders at the Sept. 11 memorial.

The pope said the aftermath of terrorist attacks some 14 years ago showed another face of the human spirit — the “power of love and remembrance.” Francis commended the first responders who rushed to help victims to their own peril when terrorists flew hijacked airplanes into the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center. He lauded New York City for coming together as a community following the destruction.

“This place of death is transformed into a place of life,” he said in his native Spanish. “It is possible to live in a world of peace.”

A Witness to Peace gathering brought together religious leaders from from Buddhist, Protestant, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh faiths at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in Lower Manhattan, one of the sites of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The pope opened his statements with his feelings, saying the waterfalls at the reflecting pools are a reminder of the “lives which fell prey to those who think that destruction, tearing down, is the only way to settle conflicts.”

“I have many different emotions standing here at Ground Zero where thousands of lives were taken in a senseless act of violence and destruction,” he said. “You can feel the pain here. It’s palpable.”

He said he feels hope by the many religions represented at the event, “I trust that our presence together will be a powerful sign of our shared desire to be a force for reconciliation, peace and justice in this community and throughout the world.”

“Together we are called to say ‘no’ to every attempt to impose uniformity and ‘yes’ to a diversity accepted and reconciled,” Francis said. “This can only happen if we uproot from our hearts all feelings of hatred, vengeance and resentment.”

The pope’s sentiments followed separate Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Christian and Muslim meditations, each followed by a single bell toll.

When he arrived at the memorial shortly after 11 a.m., Francis solemnly approached the twin reflecting pools at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in Lower Manhattan, clasped his hands and appeared to be in prayer.

He and Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan, archbishop of New York, placed two white roses on the granite slate of victims’ names. He met with some families of Sept. 11 victims and emergency responders inside the museum’s foundation hall before his comments.

Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, the senior rabbi of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City, and Imam Khalid Latif, executive director and chaplain for the Islamic Center at New York University, also led prayers.

“Through our knowing of each other today, let us move beyond a mere toleration of our differences and work towards a much-needed celebration of them,” Latif said.“Let us be bold enough to build partnerships with new friends and allies and together be the reason that people have hope in this world, not the reason that people dread it.”

In his visit, Francis became the first pope to visit the memorial. His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, prayed during an April 2008 ceremony at the World Trade Center, before the memorial was opened.

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