Archbishop of New York: 9/11 anniversary "a remarkable day of prayer and memory"
Saturday marks the ninth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on New
York City’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington.
In observance
of the anniversary, a memorial wall will be dedicated to the victims and their families
at St. Peter’s parish on Staten Island.
“It’s a remarkable day of prayer and
memory,” said Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, who will attend the ceremony.
One
of the major issues surrounding this year’s anniversary is the proposed project to
build a mosque and Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero.
“On the one side
there’s the very noble sentiment of freedom of religion; a respect for all religions;
the hospitality that America has traditionally given to the refugee and the immigrant.
That is such a precious Catholic value, as well as an American value,” Archbishop
Dolan told Vatican Radio.
“On the other side we have the tender values of those
for whom the September 11th site is still an open wound, and who say, ‘We
need a little bit more time to heal here,’ and we don’t want to do anything to aggravate
things and to reopen that wound. For some people – right or wrong – it could do that.”