{"id":844049,"date":"2026-09-11T11:32:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T11:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/844049\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T11:32:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T11:32:13","slug":"the-popes-and-9-11-christs-light-in-historys-darkest-hour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/844049\/","title":{"rendered":"The Popes and 9\/11: Christ\u2019s light in history\u2019s darkest hour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty-five years after the 9\/11 attacks on the United States, we recall the words of successive Popes who have repeatedly appealed for peace and reconciliation, reminding us that even in the face of unspeakable horror, evil and death do not have the final word.<\/p>\n

By Isabella Piro<\/p>\n

On September 11, 2001, the United States had just been struck by four suicide attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives in different parts of the country.<\/p>\n

Pope John Paul II was at Castel Gandolfo when he received a telephone call from the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Joaqu\u00edn Navarro-Valls, informing him of what had happened. Deeply shaken, the Pope immediately withdraws to pray in the private chapel of the Apostolic Palace.<\/p>\n

He then sent a telegram expressing his condolences and closeness to US President George W. Bush.<\/p>\n

It consisted of six lines written in block capitals\u2014the style of official communications\u2014but Pope John Paul II\u2019s words are profoundly human and express the grief of the entire world. He speaks of \u201cunspeakable horror,\u201d describes the terrorist attacks as \u201cinhuman,\u201d and calls it a \u201cdark and tragic moment\u201d in history.<\/p>\n

An affront to human dignity <\/p>\n

The following day was Wednesday, and the General Audience was held in St Peter\u2019s Square. At the request of the Bishop of Rome, there was no applause, and the faithful remained in solemn silence.<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday was a dark day in the history of humanity, a terrible affront to human dignity,\u201d John Paul II said, before voicing the question in everyone\u2019s heart: \u201cHow is it possible to commit acts of such savage cruelty?\u201d<\/p>\n

The answer to such cruelty, he continued, lies in Christ, the foundation of hope, who ensures that evil and death do not have the final word.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

\n John Paul II in prayer\n <\/p>\n

Not revenge, but unity and dialogue <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the 180th Ordinary General Chapter of the Order of Saint Augustine was taking place in Rome. Among those attending was the American priest Father Robert Francis Prevost, the future Pope Leo XIV, who was elected Prior General on September 14, his birthday.<\/p>\n

It therefore fell to him to preside over the closing Mass on September 21 in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot fail to remember the tragic events that shook the United States on September 11,\u201d he said in his homily. \u201cThe violence that the world witnessed last week in the United States is a tragic expression of a series of problems that are becoming increasingly acute everywhere. Hatred and violence will continue to grow as long as so many people are forced to live in extreme poverty and are oppressed by so many forms of injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile many seek revenge,\u201d he concluded, \u201cAugustinians must bear witness to the Gospel and to its values of unity, dialogue, peace, and reconciliation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Savagery of terrorism overcome by love <\/p>\n

A year later, Pope John Paul II continued to make tireless appeals for peace.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, September 11, 2002, during the General Audience, the Pope recalled the \u201csavage attack\u201d of twelve months earlier, the collapse of the Twin Towers, and the lives of so many innocent people swallowed by the rubble.<\/p>\n

He firmly reiterated that terrorism \u201cis and will always be a manifestation of inhuman ferocity\u201d and that oppression, armed violence and war are choices that sow and produce only hatred and death.<\/p>\n

\u201cReason and love,\u201d he concluded, \u201care the only valid means for overcoming and resolving disputes between individuals and peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n

Courage to work for peace <\/p>\n

The peace invoked by Pope John Paul II found renewed expression in the prayer of his successor, Pope Benedict XVI.<\/p>\n

On April 20, 2008, during his Apostolic Journey to the United States, Pope Benedict visited Ground Zero.<\/p>\n

Where the Twin Towers once stood, there was a deep void, almost a metaphor for the abyss of evil. Yet all around it is a construction site\u2014a symbol of hope being reborn and rebuilding what was destroyed.<\/p>\n

In silence, the Pope lit a candle in memory of the victims. He then knelt and asked God to bring peace to a violent world and to grant humanity the wisdom and courage to work tirelessly for a world in which genuine peace and love reign among nations and in every human heart.<\/p>\n

\"Pope<\/p>\n

\n Pope Benedict XVI prays at Ground Zero\n <\/p>\n

Every human life is precious <\/p>\n

Three years later, on September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter to the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, who would be created a Cardinal the following February.<\/p>\n

Recalling the \u201cbrutal assault\u201d of ten years earlier, Pope Benedict described it as a tragedy made even more grave by the perpetrators\u2019 claim that they were acting in God\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

He firmly stressed that no circumstances can ever justify acts of terrorism. Every human life, he said, is precious in God\u2019s sight, and no effort should be spared in promoting genuine respect throughout the world for the inalienable rights and dignity of every individual and people.<\/p>\n

A palpable grief that cries out to heaven <\/p>\n

Pope Francis also visited Ground Zero, which has since become a memorial consisting of two large pools of flowing water, each occupying the footprint of one of the Twin Towers.<\/p>\n

The names of the 2,974 victims, representing 90 different nationalities, are inscribed along their edges.<\/p>\n

During an interreligious meeting held there on September 25, 2015, Pope Francis described the 9\/11 attacks as \u201ca senseless act of destruction\u201d and spoke of a palpable, searing grief that left people stunned and cries out to heaven.<\/p>\n

The water flowing through the pools, he said, recalls all those lives that fell victim to people who believed destruction was the only way to resolve conflicts.<\/p>\n

Yet the logic of violence, hatred, and revenge can produce only pain, suffering, destruction, and tears. Life, he said, is destined to triumph over the prophets of destruction and death, just as reconciliation and unity will triumph over hatred and division.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us implore from on high the gift of commitment to the cause of peace,\u201d the Bishop of Rome concluded. \u201cPeace throughout this world which God has given us as the home of all and a home for all. Simply peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pope<\/p>\n

\n Pope Francis pays tribute to the victims of the attacks at Ground Zero on September 25, 2015\n <\/p>\n

Never again against one another! <\/p>\n

When it comes to peace, \u201cwe cannot be indifferent or neutral,\u201d Pope Francis said again on September 11, 2021.<\/p>\n

The occasion was the G20 Interfaith Forum in Bologna, held under the theme \u201cTime to Heal: Peace among Cultures, Understanding between Religions.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a message to participants, the Pope once again insisted: \u201cNot neutral, but taking a stand for peace! Let us invoke the ius pacis\u2014the right of everyone to resolve conflicts without violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo more war, no more against others, no more without others!\u201d he concluded, because ultimately \u201cyoung people and history will judge us on this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twenty-five years after the 9\/11 attacks on the United States, we recall the words of successive Popes who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":844050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,60417,249145,90943,228718,19431,24265,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-844049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-peace","tag-pope-benedict-xvi","tag-pope-francis","tag-pope-john-paul-ii","tag-pope-leo-xiv","tag-terrorism","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}