2011-09-08 Vatican Radio
As Americans prepare to mark the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on Washington, New York and Pennsylvania, Tracey McClure speaks to the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Miguel Diaz.
At the time of the attacks on New York's Twin Towers, Ambassador Diaz was a professor and Dean of the Catholic regional seminary of St. Vincent de Paul in Florida. He explains that he and the staff were gathered round a table in the seminary when they heard the news that a plane had crashed into one of the towers at the site known today as Ground Zero.
"Moments later people began to realize that something was happening in our nation that was not the usual business," he remembers.
As he and the others tried to come to grips with the drama unfolding on the t.v. screen before them, Diaz says he thought it important to gather together his staff and students in prayer and reflection.
"Those are the times when the voice of reason, when prayer, faith all come together -- when communities begin to really...people begin to depend upon each other. It's one of those times that you wish you could extrapolate and you could magnify and perpetuate eternally because it is one of those times when differences that at times divide us disappeared and we stood together as one people and we helped each other."
When asked if ten years on the U.S. is a changed nation, Ambassador Diaz says,
"I think so... with each day we learn anew and appreciate the value and the freedoms that we enjoy. I know this as ambassador. With all the security that surrounds me I appreciate a little more the value of freedom than I did before. I think the attacks on 911 made us more aware of how precious freedom is and how precious is the opportunity to just even walk in a street without fear of being attacked and without violence and without bombs dropping on you and your children. So I think it was very much a moment which we were made very much aware of those fundamental freedoms that we sometimes, any of us at one given moment, may take for granted."
The United States Embassy to the Holy See is hosting a number of events to remember 911, including a series of roundtable discussions involving young people from around the world.
The U.S. ambassador explains it is "an opportunity for them to share their own vision of what the future should be: what the present is and what the present is not, and what the future should be. It's a way for diplomats and adults also to listen to the young people because in them are also found the seeds of hope."
Listen to the full interview: 00:08:23:28
http://www.news.va/en/news/us-ambassador-remembers-911
VATICAN CITY, 10 SEP 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father has sent a message to Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, marking the tenth anniversary of the attacks against the World Trade Centre in New York, and against Washington and Pennsylvania, which occurred on 11 September 2001 and killed thousands of people.
After commending the victims to divine mercy, Benedict XVI goes on to recall that the perpetrators were convinced they were acting in the name of God. "Once again", he writes, "it must be unequivocally stated that no circumstances can ever justify acts of terrorism. Every human life is precious in God's sight and no effort should be spared in the attempt to promote throughout the world a genuine respect for the inalienable rights and dignity of individuals and peoples everywhere".
The Holy Father has words of praise for the courage and generosity shown by the American people during the rescue operations and "for their resilience in moving forward with hope and confidence. It is my fervent prayer", he concludes, "that a firm commitment to justice and a global culture of solidarity will help rid the world of the grievances that so often give rise to acts of violence and will create the conditions for greater peace and prosperity, offering a brighter and more secure future".
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5:52
The Second Vatican Council and the New Massby AdversusHaereses371 views
[Hmm. I guess YT didn't like the link to CNA.]
'God and Religion must never be used as a force for destruction' say Diaz.
But isn't that a bit odd given that on 9 September 2011 Jim Nicholson, a former US Ambassador to the Holy See, claims that Pope Jean Paul sanctioned the war in Afghanistan, and was instrumental in recruiting countries to its cause as a 'Just War'?*
*[Catholic News Association, 9 September 2011, 'The Pope and 9/11'
By Hon. James R. Nicholson]
NamronSeven 4 months ago
hi - what's the problem here? Why can't I comment?
NamronSeven 4 months ago