The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has launched a website to share individuals' remembrances of Sept. 11, 2001, and to offer resources for people who want to reflect on the 10th anniversary of the deadly terrorist attack against the U.S.
The website, called "The Catholic Church Remembers," includes videos of clergy and laypeople recalling their experience of the day and its aftermath. Cardinal Edward Egan, archbishop emeritus of New York, talks about the pure horror of watching the World Trade Towers collapse as he stood outside St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan. He stood alongside a young doctor who was trembling and crying. The doctor said he believed his father had just died in the first tower's collapse. The doctor refused Cardinal Egan's invitation to compose himself over a cup of coffee. "Cardinal, I am a doctor, the injured are coming and my place is here," he said.
In the hours, days and weeks that followed the attack, Cardinal Egan and other clergy anointed the bodies of victims, tended to the injured and presided over funeral services.
Donald L. Rutherford, a Catholic priest and Chief of Chaplain for the U.S. Military, describes how the day's events strengthened the faith of young soldiers.
Parents speak of the son they lost on the high-jacked United Airlines Flight 93 — they recall his last conversation with his wife before he and other passengers fought against the high jackers, ultimately bringing the plane down in Shanksville, Pa.
Also on the site are reflections, Liturgical ideas and additional materials for churches, parishioners and others to use as they mark the day.
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