{"id":62,"date":"2010-09-10T16:28:07","date_gmt":"2010-09-10T16:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2010\/09\/the-words-of-pope-john-paul-ii-on-091201.html"},"modified":"2010-09-10T16:28:07","modified_gmt":"2010-09-10T16:28:07","slug":"the-words-of-pope-john-paul-ii-on-091201","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2010\/09\/the-words-of-pope-john-paul-ii-on-091201.html","title":{"rendered":"The words of Pope John Paul II on 09\/12\/01"},"content":{"rendered":"

On this way when all Americans and all people of good will remember with sadness the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Pope John Paul II’s words<\/a> delivered to a general audience the day after the attacks remain as true and moving today as they were then. They are worth remembering.<\/p>\n

JOHN PAUL II<\/b> <\/font><\/p>\n

GENERAL AUDIENCE<\/font><\/b> <\/p>\n

Wednesday 12 September 2001<\/font><\/i><\/p>\n

 I cannot begin this audience without expressing my profound sorrow
\nat the terrorist attacks which yesterday brought death and destruction to
\nAmerica, causing thousands of victims and injuring countless people. To the
\nPresident of the United States and to all American citizens I express my
\nheartfelt sorrow. In the face of such unspeakable horror we cannot but be deeply
\ndisturbed. I add my voice to all the voices raised in these hours to express
\nindignant condemnation, and I strongly reiterate that the ways of violence will
\nnever lead to genuine solutions to humanity’s problems.<\/i><\/p>\n

Yesterday was a dark day in the history of humanity, a terrible
\naffront to human dignity. After receiving the news, I followed with intense
\nconcern the developing situation, with heartfelt prayers to the Lord. How is it
\npossible to commit acts of such savage cruelty? The human heart has depths from
\nwhich schemes of unheard-of ferocity sometimes emerge, capable of destroying in
\na moment the normal daily life of a people. But faith comes to our aid at these
\ntimes when words seem to fail. Christ’s word is the only one that can give a
\nresponse to the questions which trouble our spirit. Even if the forces of
\ndarkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do
\nnot have the final say. Christian hope is based on this truth; at this time our
\nprayerful trust draws strength from it.<\/i><\/p>\n

With deeply felt sympathy I address myself to the beloved people
\nof the United States in this moment of distress and consternation, when the
\ncourage of so many men and women of good will is being sorely tested. In a
\nspecial way I reach out to the families of the dead and the injured, and assure
\nthem of my spiritual closeness. I entrust to the mercy of the Most High the
\nhelpless victims of this tragedy, for whom I offered Mass this morning, invoking
\nupon them eternal rest. May God give courage to the survivors; may he sustain
\nthe rescue-workers and the many volunteers who are presently making an enormous
\neffort to cope with such an immense emergency. I ask you, dear brothers and
\nsisters, to join me in prayer for them. Let us beg the Lord that the spiral of
\nhatred and violence will not prevail. May the Blessed Virgin, Mother of Mercy,
\nfill the hearts of all with wise thoughts and peaceful intentions.<\/i><\/p>\n

Today, my heartfelt sympathy is with the American people,
\nsubjected yesterday to inhuman terrorist attacks which have taken the lives of
\nthousands of innocent human beings and caused unspeakable sorrow in the hearts
\nof all men and women of good will. Yesterday was indeed a dark day in our
\nhistory, an appalling offence against peace, a terrible assault against human
\ndignity.<\/i><\/p>\n

I invite you all to join me in commending the victims of this
\nshocking tragedy to Almighty
God’ s eternal love. Let us implore his comfort
\nupon the injured, the families involved, all who are doing their utmost to
\nrescue survivors and help those affected.<\/i><\/p>\n

I ask God to grant the American people the strength and courage
\nthey need at this time of sorrow and trial.<\/i><\/p>\n

   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On this way when all Americans and all people of good will remember with sadness the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Pope John Paul II’s words delivered to a general audience the day after the attacks remain as true and moving today as they were then. They are worth remembering. 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Kennedy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","caption":"John W. Kennedy"},"description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media & Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations & Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}