Archbishop William E. Lori urged Catholics to remember the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with hearts marked not by vengeance, but by compassion and sacrifice, during a midday Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the 25th anniversary of the tragedy.
The Sept. 11 liturgy honored the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and aboard Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pa., as well as the police officers, firefighters, emergency responders and ordinary citizens who lost their lives trying to save others.
“Those of us old enough to remember will never forget 9/11. It is seared into our hearts,” Archbishop Lori said. “We remember where we were, what we were doing and who we were with when we heard the news.”
Quoting Peggy Noonan, a Wall Street Journal columnist, Archbishop Lori encouraged the congregation of about 130 people to “never lie about what breaks your heart.”
“To do so is not only to disregard the nearly 3,000 people who died that day, but it is to risk becoming people who are indifferent and deceived,” Archbishop Lori said. “To remember 9/11 in our hearts is not to seethe in anger. It is not to insert vengeance; that belongs to God alone. A broken heart is not a vengeful one. We pray for a broken heart because only such a heart is open enough, and big enough, to encompass the pain and sacrifice of 9/11. Indeed, a broken, contrite heart is the only heart capable of courage and self-sacrifice.”
The Mass concluded with the congregation singing “America the Beautiful.”
Archbishop Lori was serving as the newly installed bishop of Bridgeport, Conn., when the attacks occurred. Speaking after Mass, he recalled immediately realizing that many of his parishioners worked in the Twin Towers.
“I realized many of my parishioners were in those Twin Towers,” he said. “I immediately knew I had to do outreach. I was there at the Metro North train stop when people got off just to be there.”
In the days that followed, he celebrated Masses at St. Augustine Cathedral and two other parishes, checked with local hospital burn units, reached out to families who lost loved ones and presided at numerous funerals.
“It was a very real experience,” Archbishop Lori said. “It still is.”
Charlotte Soracoe, a parishioner of Our Lady of Angels, recalled teaching sixth grade at Catonsville Middle School when news of the attacks began to spread.
“We just kept teaching, and then they started calling the students as some people started picking up their children. It was a scary day,” said Soracoe, who attended the Mass with her husband. “We did Meals on Wheels this morning and I just said, ‘Let’s go down and spend an hour with the Lord.’”
Madeline Lacovara, who lived in New York City at the time of the attacks, said she attended the Mass because the memories remain vivid.
“I came today because I spent part of that day helping people come up from the World Trade Center,” Lacovara said after Mass. “It was horrendous and stayed horrendous for a very long time. We pray for those people.”
When Lacovara later visited the site, she said she saw a huge cross made of twisted metal and Franciscans bringing water to firefighters and other workers.
“It was really a holy place,” she said. “I don’t know. I hope the Lord had his arms wide open.”
Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org
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