wfn.org | Archbishop of Canterbury visits site of terrorist attacks in New York

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

February 5, 2002

2002-034

Episcopalians: Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey visits
site of terrorist attacks in New York

by Nathan Brockman and James Solheim

(Trinity News/ENS) Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey visited
the devastated site of New Yorks World Trade Center on Sunday
February 3, co-leading a memorial service at Ground Zero,
visiting the relief mission to rescue workers at nearby St.
Pauls Chapel, and preaching a sermon at Trinity Church, Wall
Street, that put the arduous and often horrific tasks of rescue
workers and volunteers in the context of justice, love, and
faith.

Carey was among 40 world religious leaders attending the World
Economic Forum in New York. A delegation of the leaders
journeyed by bus to Ground Zero early on Sunday morning to hold
a memorial service on a viewing platform for family members who
lost loved ones in the World Trade Center. It was a moving
act, said the archbishop. The service concluded with the
assembly singing We Shall Overcome.

On the opposite side of the World Trade Center site, now a muddy
pit with the concrete foundation of the centers plaza exposed,
stood the Careys second destination--St. Pauls Chapel. Within
hours after the September 11 attacks, the chapel began serving
as a sanctuary for the relief workers, including the
firefighters, police officers, ironworkers, engineers and others
who converged on the site.

A peaceful sanctuaryThe chapel was humming with activity,
as it has since that fateful September day, as Carey and his
wife Eileen, accompanied by Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold,
greeted people. Police officers lined the wooden pews and
firefighters in rescue gear walked down the aisles. Carey
expressed his amazement at their work and offered words of
gratitude. Theyre all heroes, arent they? he said. The Rev.
Dan Matthews, rector of Trinity, said that people were calling
it ground hero instead of ground zero.

A photographer expressed his gratitude for the sanctuary.a
peaceful place in the midst of chaos. You must be very proud
of your church, a policeman told Carey and Griswold. The
presiding bishop described his visit to the chapel a few days
after the terrorist attack, finding the door open and leaving a
message. Its a miracle that nothing happened to the chapel,
Griswold told the Careys.

The Rev. Lyndon Harris, a member of the Trinity staff who serves
the chapel, greeted Griswold on that September morning, and led
the tour Sunday morning. He related the story of a woman from
the Bronx who rode the train down to the church to offer her
cane for someone in need. It is now one of our sacred
artifacts, Harris said.

Carey met Michael Bellone, who said it was his job to extract
bodies from the site. Just 10 minutes before, Bellone said, he
had removed a body part from the rubble.

Walking by faith Then it was on to Trinity, just down the
street, for Eucharist, celebrated by Griswold. In his sermon,
Carey said that the lessons of the day were centered on the
theme of Christian witness, the kind of witness he had just seen
in action at St. Pauls Chapel.

The Old Testament passage puts it so beautifully: What is it
that the Lord requires of you? Only to do justice, love mercy,
and walk humbly with your God. Arguing that there should be
no separation between living the faith and proclaiming it, Carey
said that he was sure that those of you who were so close to
the terrible events of September 11 in this church and elsewhere
still remember how the shock of it tested your faith. Ive been
struck by so many stories of heroism, bravery, defiant optimism,
outstanding courageI imagine that each of those heroes felt
very vulnerable, very scared indeed. And thats entirely
understandable because walking by faith clearly suggests that we
havent arrived at our destination. Walking in faith implies
that we have still so much to learn, so much more growing to
do.

Noting that the followers of Jesus Christ are not plaster
saints but like the rest of us fallible, stumbling and weak,
Carey said that by Gods spirit, they are able to walk in love
and service. And they and we will always be surprised by Gods
power to use us when we least expect it.

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--Nathan Brockman is managing editor of Trinity News and of
Trinity Wall Streets website. Photos are available at
www.trinitywallstreet.org/pr. Enter press for username and
images for password for access.