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Catholics Recall Ministry in 9/11 Aftermath
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In Short: Catholics describe their experiences ministering in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, including seeing a cross formed by intersecting steel beams and witnessing unspeakable sights.
Father Brian Jordan recalled, 'I remember like it was yesterday,' reflecting on his experience ministering in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
Father Jordan described seeing two intersecting steel beams form a crucifix, as 6 WTC was struck by debris from the collapse of the North Tower.
Sister Margaret, now assistant to the president of the Sisters of Charity New York, remembered, 'I just got a call. A plane went into the World Trade Center,' marking the moment she first learned of the attacks.
Father Stephen McGraw, a priest at the time in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, recounted witnessing unspeakable sights, including a flattened face under a stone.
These accounts highlight the profound impact of 9/11 on the Catholic community and the immediate response of those who ministered in the aftermath.
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- “I remember like it was yesterday,” Father Brian Jordan told OSV News.
- “I had like 25 fighters next to me, and the construction worker says, ‘What do you see there, Father, right in the middle?’ I said, ‘I can’t believe this … I see a cross.'” Two intersecting steel beams had been…
- “Her secretary came in and said, ‘I just got a call. A plane went into the World Trade Center,'” Sister Margaret remembered.
- “I remember being so grateful I had something to be part of, to help,” said Sister Margaret, now assistant to the president of the Sisters of Charity New York.
- Her colleague “remembered one person — he was very quiet — and then he said, ‘I can take the arms and the legs. But when I turned over a stone and saw a face, just a head, flattened into the ground.'” Father Stephen…
Sources
- OSV Newslink