– Pope Francis visited the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at ground zero Friday.
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The pope stood there alone for more than a minute, occasionally lifting his eyes to look out at the expanse.
“This place of death became a place of life, too”, the pope said, according to a translation provided by the Vatican.
World leaders seem not to realize that while they hedge and debate, real people are suffering, Francis said.
Pope Francis, who is being celebrated due to the fact that he has devoted a large portion of his Papacy to calling for peace, stopped outside the memorial’s two outdoor reflecting pools and recited a prayer.
Standing steps away from where their relatives perished, they lined up along guard railings to catch a glimpse of Francis. Others watched from behind barriers, trying to catch his attention.
“It is an extraordinary honor to have Pope Francis in New York State, a man who embodies the values of kind-hearted acceptance, care for others, and undying hope for the future – values that are also embodied in the fabric and people of New York”, Cuomo said. Peace in our homes, our families, our schools and our communities. “A blessing, please!”
Today at the gym, while on the treadmill, I felt as if I was taking a walk with him and those who joined him at the Ground Zero memorial. “Francisco! Francisco! Francisco!”
Anna Florentino said it was her first visit to the Memorial & Museum.
The second, also found in the debris, was a battered Bible, its pages fused together and turned permanently to Matthew 5:39: “But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil”.
For pope fans of various religions, the service was the latest evidence that Francis was eager to spread a message of spirituality beyond the Catholic Church.
World leaders can draw up all the treaties and programs they want, the Pope said. “Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Diarelia Mena worked in IT for Cantor Fitzgerald. “It’s going to be comforting for a lot of 9/11 family members”, he said.
“We were here on that day and witnessed everything and evacuated”. For all our differences and disagreements, we can live in a world of peace. “And this really is the beginning”. “He took my children to Mass more than I did”.
“God judges us according to our deeds, not the coat that we wear”, said Sikh activist Satpal Singh in Punjabi, and his daughter Dr. Gunisha Kaur, who translated the prayer into English. “For me, his coming here is acknowledging the best of humanity”. Not just romantic love, but a love rooted in compassion, respect, understanding and hope for people you know as well as those you may never meet.
Onstage, before the crowd, he placed his hand on her belly.
He later delivered brief remarks, highlighting the many emotions that he experienced at the former site of the World Trade Center – a place where he said that grief is palpable.
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Kaur said she was moved by Francis – and all the faiths that were part of the program. There should be opposition to “any attempt to make us all the same”, he said.
