IN COMMEMORATION of the first anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Pope John Paul II urged the faithful to pray for the victims and asked them to grant “mercy and pardon to the authors of this horrible terrorist attacks.”
“Terrorism is and will always be a manifestation of inhuman cruelty, which precisely for this reason (that we) will never be able to resolve conflicts among human beings. Abuse, armed violence, and war are choices that sow and generate hate and death. Only reason and love are valid means to overcome and resolve disputes between people and nation,” he said.
The Pope said that a harmonious and determined to resolve the prevailing conflicts is needed to carry out new political and economic initiatives, which, would solve injustice and oppression that afflict so many members of humanity, creating favorable conditions for the desire for vengeance.
“On this sad anniversary, we raise our prayer to God so that love can replace hate and with the effort of all people of good will, harmony, and solidarity can be affirmed in all the corners of the earth,” the Holy See added.
The Pope ended with a prayer invoking the Divine Mercy and sanctity for the injustices that stain the conscience of humankind.
“May the memory of the tragic events in human history would not obscure confidence in the infinite mercy and fidelity of God. His changing will of love and peace manifested in Christ, who died and rose from the dead, is the foundation of secured hope for all people,” he added.
Moreover, L’Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper devote its September 12 special edition issue to pay tribute to the victims.
The special issue contained several analyses of the terrorist attacks including its aftermath and the Pope’s world day of peace message. Anna Rachelle S. Ariola with reports from the Vatican News Service
