St. Paul's Chapel, a center for mourners and relief workers in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, once again served as a key gathering place in 2006 as religious leaders joined in a memorial service to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the attacks.
Representatives of Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Sikhism and several Christian denominations, including the Catholic Church, participated in the service, organized by New York Disaster Interfaith Services to pay tribute to the Sept. 11-related efforts of faith-based relief and recovery agencies.
St. Paul's, part of Trinity Episcopal Parish and Manhattan's oldest public building in continuous use, stands across from the 70-foot-deep crater now marking the place where the World Trade Center once stood.
On the evening of Sept. 11, the area was filled with people quietly remembering the events of 2001. Behind them, twin beams of light symbolizing the fallen towers shot up into the night sky; indeed, light against the darkness served as the chapel service's overarching theme.
"Just seeing people of faith together was a visual sign of hope beyond the fragmentation that had given rise to the events of 9/11," said the Rev. James A. Forbes Jr., the service's homilist and the senior minister of Riverside Church, an interdenominational congregation in New York.
"I think the volunteers turned out to be philosophers and theologians," he said. They showed those suffering that there is "always a spark, a shaft of light."
"It's true that in every situation of darkness we find in the world today, if there is time and attention and focus, no matter how dark it gets, light springs forth. You, the volunteers, were making a statement," said Rev. Forbes.
Following the attacks, St. Paul's hosted hundreds of recovery workers, who ate and slept in the chapel, and volunteers, who served meals, made beds and ministered to firefighters, police officers and construction workers. Since then, St. Paul's has acted as a sort of Sept. 11 museum. Its entrance and aisles display photographs, memorabilia, artwork and videos relating to the attacks and recovery efforts.
Taking part in the service was Father Kevin Madigan, pastor of St. Peter's, the closest Catholic church to ground zero, just up the street from St. Paul's.
Father Madigan told Catholic News Service that the commitment of relief workers helped New Yorkers avoid crises of faith. "They saw goodness, and that's really what made the difference," he said. "If they hadn't been there, people might have said, 'Where was God?'"
Father Madigan, who was one of five religious leaders to impart a blessing toward the end of the service, offered the use of St. Peter's and its chapel of St. Joseph, located in a nearby residential neighborhood, to volunteers and rescue workers, including an evangelical group, in the months after Sept. 11.
He said interfaith solidarity went beyond the fifth anniversary commemoration. "It's not about coming together today, but about coming together for the past five years. Here in such a diverse city, it's more than just tolerance. It's appreciation for difference," said the priest.
Several chaplains from the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma who worked in New York in 2001 at a makeshift morgue and in the morass of twisted steel known as "the pit" returned for the fifth anniversary.
Paul Bettis, a chaplain for 20 years, stood in the honor guard at ground zero during the morning's ceremony and attended the interfaith service in the evening.
"Often people say, 'Where is God in all this?'" Bettis said. "And I say, 'Where he always is.' He opened up a lot of doors for us here, to be able to do this ministry. Those are faith-builders all the way."
Manny Rodriguez, 51, a Catholic construction worker from Allentown, Pa., also traveled to New York for the anniversary commemoration. He spent eight months at the World Trade Center site, sifting through rubble and sleeping on a cot at St. Paul's at the end of his grueling shifts.
When he first saw the cross-shaped steel beam that was found in the wreckage two days after the attacks and that became an indelible image in the months following, he said his hair stood on end.
Rodriguez, a member of St. Paul Parish in Allentown, said he thought to himself, "God was here with those people."
Near Washington
It seemed that every 10 minutes a plane taking off from Reagan National Airport roared nearby. The sound was chilling as family and friends gathered to remember loved ones who died when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
Lisa Dolan and her son, Beau, parishioners at St. Mary Parish in Alexandria, will never forget the events of that day.
At 8:55 a.m. she spoke to her husband, Navy Capt. Robert E. Dolan Jr., who worked in the Navy Command Center as head of the Strategy and Concepts Branch for the Chief of Naval Operations. He called his wife to tell her that a plane crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.
When she heard of the second tower being hit with another plane, she tried to contact her husband again.
"I knew this wasn't an accident, and it could only be a purposeful act," she said. "I tried time and again to connect with Bob. I never was able to reach him."
Months later she would learn that her husband was busy working on the crisis in New York when Flight 77 struck the Pentagon.
When she learned of the third crash, Lisa Dolan's thoughts turned to her children, Rebecca, then a sophomore at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, and Beau, a fourth-grader at St. Mary School. By the time she picked them up at school they were both aware of the attacks.
"We waited home together praying and waiting for news," she said. "They knew their father was missing. When no word came, we all knew he was gone."
Several priests from Bishop Ireton stayed with the family that afternoon.
"They sat with us, and prayed with us, and continued to support us in the months following our ordeal," she said. "Even now, five years later, they continue to be a source of strength to my family."
Robert Dolan was one of 184 men and women who died at the Pentagon. Now, five years later, the Dolan family is moving ahead. Beau has begun high school at Bishop Ireton; Rebecca is in her third year of college.
Lisa Dolan said one of the most difficult challenges in her new life as a single mother is watching her children grow without their father.
"My husband and I thought we'd be making this journey together," she said. But her children are still her priority.
Lisa Dolan helped found the Pentagon Memorial Fund after working on the Family Steering Committee and continues to serve on the board for the memorial fund. She has also worked on committees to assist Sept. 11 victims and survivors and to assess the response to Sept. 11.
Earlier this year, she attended the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui in Alexandria. She said not only was this part of the grieving process for her, but it was a way to support the Department of Justice and the FBI.
Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, was convicted in May of conspiracy in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole at a federal prison in Colorado.
The Dolan family has established the Capt. Robert E. Dolan Citizenship Award at St. Mary School. The award recognizes a graduating student whose actions and community involvement "best demonstrate the exercise of freedom to help others by working for the betterment of their community in a way that exemplifies the true spirit of freedom, citizenship and service." ---CNS |