Twenty-five years ago: Remembering September 11
9/11 was evil. It was a sin. We don’t use the word often, but it was a sin, a moral failure.
By Rev. James F. Quigley, O.P. ’60
Associate Chaplain, National Alumni Association
The woman sat toward the back of the church. She was quietly crying. Wiping her eyes, she whispered, “God can’t stop crying.” People that day were crying in homes, in businesses, in stores, in subways, on streets, everywhere. It was 9/11/2001. Twenty-five years ago!
The day was bright, sunny, and comfortably cool — and then, suddenly, there was an explosion. A plane hit one of the famous World Trade Center twin towers in lower New York City. Listening to news bulletins, I walked to the chapel at The Catholic Center at New York University, near Union Square Park, where I was associate director, thinking this could not be an accident. People began coming into the chapel to pray, to cry, to hug, to moan, to sit, dazed. Not too long after, I found myself standing on the sidewalk with a group of strangers looking downtown toward the towers. The second tower had been hit by another plane. As we gasped, both buildings began to crumble, floor by floor.
God can’t stop crying! With reason. Something horrible had happened. Insane violence had been inflicted on 2,977 innocent women and men in New York City, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. That violence devastated the lives of so many others, broke their hearts, changed their lives forever: wives, husbands, parents, children, siblings, friends, and strangers. That violence spilled over to scar and kill 344 fire fighters and 71 law enforcement officers and first responders. The pain continues to this day.
Who was responsible? Was this preventable? Accusations were made and continue to circulate. Was anyone found guilty and punished? Investigations determined suspects. They continue. The 9/11 attacks led to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and those wars resulted in great numbers of civilian deaths as well as those of U.S. service members. Insane violence. Was this terrorist atrocity done out of revenge? Political ideology? Religion? Racism? Maybe any and all of those reasons were at work. How can human life be so despised, dismissed, unwanted, insulted?
As weeks after 9/11 passed, churches in New York City, on Long Island, across the river in New Jersey, in D.C., and far away in England and other countries began offering funeral Masses for the victims and their families. Some parishes near New York celebrated some 20 such funerals for their parishioners, often without any remains. Several Providence College alumni were killed that day: David Angell ’69, ’94Hon. and his wife, Lynn Angell, Gertrude M. Alagero ’86, Michael Berkeley ’85, Joseph A. Corbett ’95, Linda M. George ’96, Lynn C. Goodchild and Shawn M. Nassaney (MBA candidates). Those women and men who went to work that morning, those who boarded those planes, could not have dreamt what would happen that day. As firefighters, police, and other first responders showed up for work, they had no idea what awaited them.
At the time, Pope Saint John Paul II commented, “… A dark day in the history of humanity, a terrible affront to human dignity … How is it possible to commit acts of such savage cruelty? The human heart has depths from which such schemes of unheard-of ferocity sometimes emerge …”
Why would God allow such a horror? Walking the streets in lower Manhattan those days after 9/11, I kept thinking about that theological puzzle. A lot of great minds have struggled with that question. I would walk past posters and photos of missing victims, put up wherever by desperate loved ones looking for them, clinging to hope.
I spent a lot of time with a very close friend, Brendan Ryan, in the days after 9/11. Sometimes we would meet at night for a beer or two or in the morning for breakfast. Brendan attended PC before leaving to launch his musical career. His wife, his newly married wife, Kristy Irvine Ryan, was on the 104th floor of the second tower. I don’t remember if Brendan ever asked me that “why” question, but a lot of other people did. My friend in his own way just kept praying. I celebrated a memorial Mass for Kristy with hundreds in attendance, mourning, puzzled, shocked, and angry.
9/11 was evil. It was a sin. We don’t use the word often, but it was a sin, a moral failure. Violence against human life is always a sin. Jesus has told us: “I have come that you may have life, life in abundance” (John 10:10). Every human life is God’s gift of love, to be protected, cared for, honored, and respected. God wasn’t kidding. Whatever form any violence takes to hurt, demean, lessen, or insult life is not just simply unfortunate. It is a sin. We can’t run away from that. Violence in its many ugly guises denies God, denies the creation He inaugurated and continues in being. Whoever threatens human life is a sinner and is guilty.
Why does God allow evil to happen? Why did all those women and men have to end their valuable lives on 9/11? Why did their loved ones have to suffer their loss? As I walked the streets of New York, I thought about the philosophical responses to that question, but they were all emotionally unsatisfying. My faith was my refuge. God is love, a loving Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The risen Lord Jesus Christ has saved me, has saved all those who died on 9/11. My faith assures me of unending life. The separation of death is for a time but not forever. Unending life beyond any suffering, beyond death is God’s promise.
Twenty-five years ago! During these years some healing, for some, has happened. Still, as an old man, I can clearly remember those days and nights, people I dealt with as a priest/pastor, trying to console and give hope, and feeling so helpless myself. I also remember so many courageous and giving people, caring people. I remember the faith of so many in their pain. That’s the goodness, compassion, and courage I hold onto.
Twenty-five years ago! Never forget!
