ETERNAL PEACE

Pope Prays for 9/11 Victims

At interfaith service at ground zero.

Pope Francis headlined an interfaith memorial service at the National 9/11 Memorial in New York on Friday. “We ask you [God] in your goodness to give eternal peace and life to all who died here,” Francis said. “Turn to your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred and who justify killing in the name of religion.” The pope’s address was preceded by Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove and Imam Khalid Latif, and followed by meditations on peace from representatives of Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and other faiths. After a reflection by the pope in Spanish, he went into a side room to view a Bible and other items recovered from the remains of the World Trade Center. Before the service, Francis met with families of victims in front of the memorial’s reflecting pool. He will go to a school in East Harlem after the ceremonies.