Pope visits Ground Zero & raises sexual
abuse scandals April 21, 2008
NEW YORK - Pope Benedict has made an emotional
visit to Ground Zero, site of the World Trade Centre felled in the September 11
attacks, and prayed for the 3000 victims, their families and an end to hate and
violence.
In the high point of his first papal visit
to the United States, Benedict blessed the gaping crater - considered hallowed
ground by many who lost relatives in the al Qaeda attacks - and spoke with each
of 24 special guests as a cello played somberly.
They were 16 relatives of people killed when
the jets hit the towers and eight survivors - four World Trade Centre workers
and four first responders who rushed to help. Some were Catholics and kissed
his ring as they told them their story.
Fog shrouded tops of towering skyscrapers as
the 81-year-old pope, dressed in a long white coat against the chill wind and
damp, read a prayer for those who died at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and on
United Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania when passengers overwhelmed the
hijackers.
"Grant that those whose lives were
spared may live so that the lives lost here may not have been lost in vain.
Comfort and console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and
courage to work tirelessly for a world where true peace and love reign among
nations and in the hearts of all." It was eerily silent in the construction
site 25m below street level at Manhattan's geological bedrock. Memorial services at Ground Zero are usually
held at street level because the crater is now a construction site. The passage in the German-born pontiff's
prayer about those with "minds consumed with hatred" has stirred controversy
because some people interpreted it as a prayer for hijackers who were killed in
the attacks and their backers. Vatican officials have not interpreted the
prayer but noted that Benedict has in the past urged radicals to eschew
violence and use only peaceful means. The wording indicated he meant those
still alive. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he had
no concerns about the content of the prayer. "He really does understand what
happened here and how this was an attack on freedom-loving people around the
world and people who want to be able to practice their religion,"
Bloomberg said at Ground Zero. "I think that he has always been a man
of peace and a man who believes we should live together and he is praying for
everyone." Last month, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
accused Benedict of being part of a "new crusade" against Islam. The
Vatican rejected the accusation. One of those attending was John McLoughlin,
a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police officer who was one of the
last people pulled out and who was the focus of the Oliver Stone movie
"World Trade Centre" starring Nicolas Cage. After the pope left, the 24 guests were
given small crosses made of the steel from the rubble of the World Trade Centre
and inscribed with the words "Remembering 9-11." Benedict, who has led the Roman Catholic
Church since 2005, was due to hold a final Mass for about 55,000 people at New
York's Yankee Stadium in the afternoon before leaving for Rome in the evening. During his six-day visit, the pontiff spoke
out several times about the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the US Church
and has cost it some $2 billion ($2.6 billion) in damages. He also addressed the United Nations and met
President George W Bush. Benedict will be the third pope to celebrate
Mass at Yankee Stadium, following Pope Paul VI in 1965 and Pope John Paul II in
1979. He also said Mass at Washington's new baseball park.