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Local services held yesterday
Wednesday, September 12, 2001
By Steve Levin, Barbara White Stack and Carmen J. Lee, Post-Gazette Staff Writers
Asking for prayers while in the midst of preparing memorial services, religious leaders from Pittsburgh and the region decried yesterday's multiple terrorist attacks and called for compassion for the victims and for all who were touched by the tragedy.
Numerous prayer services were held in the city and region throughout the day and night as Americans groped for answers and reasons where there were none.
"If God is running all of this [world] from moment to moment to moment, you won't have something like this," said the Rev. George Werner, retired dean of the Trinity Cathedral and current president of the national Episcopal Church's House of Deputies.
But "these were robots who did this. And we have seen that wherever we have such hatred, such bitterness and such revenge, we always have such tragic consequences."
Bishop Donald W. Wuerl of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh requested that all parishes keep their churches open yesterday for private prayer. In an unusual act, the Blessed Sacrament, the sanctified host which Catholics hold to be the body of Christ, was exposed for several hours yesterday at St. Mary of Mercy Church at the Point and at St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland. Usually, the Sacrament is consecrated and quickly distributed.
Another Mass "in the name of peace and an end to violence" was held last evening at St. Paul, near college campuses that had closed earlier in the day. Again today, many churches will hold special Masses, holy hours and services; Wuerl will celebrate today's noon Mass at St. Mary.
"We pray in a special way for everyone touched by this tragedy, especially the victims of these horrific actions and their families," Wuerl said in a statement. "In this time of national catastrophe and shattering violence, we must remember that our only security is in the living God."
Howard Rieger, president of the United Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh, said that Americans of all faiths will need to work together to recover from the attacks, which he said "strike at the heart of what we thought was our peaceful existence."
"From the Jewish community perspective," he said, "we know as a people that not only by standing together and giving compassion to the victims but by staying together in strength will we overcome the tragedy."
The local chapter of United Jewish Federation will convene a meeting tomorrow evening with leadership from Jewish community organizations, agencies and synagogues to review security procedures with representatives of the FBI and Pittsburgh police.
Archpriest John M. Kudrick, administrator of the Byzantine Catholic Archdiocese of Pittsburgh, called on his church to "join together with all Christian communities to emphasize the fact that God is with us and therefore we have reason for hope."
Also in response to yesterday's events, the UJF's annual meeting, scheduled for 7 tonight at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill, will be a religious observance under the direction of the Greater Pittsburgh Rabbinic Association.
Molly Rush, a staff organizer with the Thomas Merton Center in Pittsburgh, said that terrorist attacks left employees at the peace-and-justice organization "reeling." But, she added, there was concern that the U.S. government not retaliate in a way "that would create more innocent victims."
"We are deeply concerned that any response be measured and not simply a knee-jerk reaction that would escalate the violence," she said.
The center has organized a noon interfaith prayer service for today at the William S. Moorhead Federal Building on Liberty Avenue. "We just thought it was important to get across race, class and religious lines and come together as a community for peace and for healing," Rush said.
Bishop Donald McCoid of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America said yesterday's attacks have irrevocably changed the future for American children and have left them with "fear-filled hearts."
"The future we've known for our children does not seem like it will be the same," he said.
McCoid will speak at a special service today at 12:10 p.m. at the First Lutheran Church at 615 Grant St. At Calvin Presbyterian Church, a special service open to the public will be held tonight at 7 o'clock at the church, 415 E. Grandview Ave. in Zelienople.
At special services yesterday at churches and synagogues throughout Western Pennsylvania, clergy called on people to pray for the victims, for peace, and for President George W. Bush and the U.S. government.
At the noon Mass at St. Mary of Mercy Church, Auxiliary Bishop David Zubik asked 200 worshipers to find forgiveness in their hearts.
He reminded them that though they may feel fearful or angry, Catholics believe "those who work for peace will be called God's children."
Throughout much of the service, car horns blared as workers trying to flee the city waited impatiently in stopped traffic outside at the intersection of Stanwix Street and the Boulevard of the Allies.
After the service, Patricia Caraccia of Castle Shannon, said she attended because she felt she needed to pray before going home to find out the details of the tragedy from television reports. "It seemed appropriate to come here and do this. The victims and their families and our country and those who perpetrated this deserve our prayers," she said.
The 11:30 a.m. daily chapel service at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary usually attracts about 20 people, but yesterday it was packed with more than 100 people, said spokeswoman Lisa Dormire. Nearly 50 students and employees with relatives in New York and Washington, D.C., spoke about their concerns, Dormire said.
After the chapel service, the seminary closed for the rest of day.