教宗在美国：在世贸遗址指出生命注定会战胜摧毁的预言家

“这是我们哭泣的地方，我们哭泣因为痛苦，而痛苦是因为面对不公、手足相残、用对话也无力解决我们的不同的无能为力”。“我们在这里应该成为分享意愿的强烈标志，重申渴望在这一团体中、在世界的各个角落做修和的力量、和平与正义的力量”

纽约（亚洲新闻）—今天，教宗方济各来到了纽约二O一一年九月十一日恐怖袭击地世贸遗址，并发表讲话指出，在这里“我们可以看到痛苦的面容。这痛苦让我们无语、让我们向天际呐喊”。但是，想想那些在救援中丧失了生命的人，“我们可以亲手触摸到人类也有的英勇美善的能力”；“使我们重申生命注定会战胜摧毁和死亡的预言家、美好的总会战胜邪恶、和解与合一总会战胜仇恨与分裂”。

在纪念九一一恐怖袭击遗址举行的宗教对话活动中，教宗向遗址献花，并向二十位在九一一救援中献身的消防员家属致意。在地下四层的基金会大厅，十二位宗教领导人迎候教宗方济各。教宗带领大家进行和平祈祷前，犹太拉比和穆斯林教长发表讲话。接着，宣读了印度教、佛教、锡克教、基督教和穆斯林的五篇和平默想；为遇难者进行犹太教祈祷。然后，教宗方济各发表了讲话。全文如下：

“I feel many different emotions standing here at Ground Zero, where thousands of lives were taken in a senseless act of destruction. Here grief is palpable. The water we see flowing towards that empty pit reminds us of all those lives which fell prey to those who think that destruction, tearing down, is the only way to settle conflicts. It is the silent cry of those who were victims of a mind-set, which knows only violence, hatred and revenge. A mind-set which can only cause pain, suffering, destruction and tears.

“The flowing water is also a symbol of our tears. Tears at so much devastation and ruin, past and present. This is a place where we shed tears, we weep out of a sense of helplessness in the face of injustice, murder, and the failure to settle conflicts through dialogue. Here we mourn the wrongful and senseless loss of innocent lives because of the inability to find solutions which respect the common good. This flowing water reminds us of yesterday’s tears, but also of all the tears still being shed today.

“A few moments ago,” he added, “I met some of the families of the fallen first responders. Meeting them made me see once again how acts of destruction are never impersonal, abstract or merely material. They always have a face, a concrete story, names. In those family members, we see the face of pain, a pain which still touches us and cries out to heaven.

“At the same time, those family members showed me the other face of this attack, the other face of their grief: the power of love and remembrance. A remembrance that does not leave us empty and withdrawn. The name of so many loved ones are written around the towers’ footprints. We can see them, we can touch them, and we can never forget them.

“Here, amid pain and grief, we also have a palpable sense of the heroic goodness which people are capable of, those hidden reserves of strength from which we can draw. In the depths of pain and suffering, you also witnessed the heights of generosity and service. Hands reached out, lives were given. In a metropolis which might seem impersonal, faceless, lonely, you demonstrated the powerful solidarity born of mutual support, love and self-sacrifice. No one thought about race, nationality, neighborhoods, religion or politics. It was all about solidarity, meeting immediate needs, brotherhood. It was about being brothers and sisters. New York City firemen walked into the crumbling towers, with no concern for their own wellbeing. Many succumbed; their sacrifice enabled great numbers to be saved.

“This place of death became a place of life too, a place of saved lives, a hymn to the triumph of life over the prophets of destruction and death, to goodness over evil, to reconciliation and unity over hatred and division.

“It is a source of great hope that in this place of sorrow and remembrance I can join with leaders representing the many religious traditions which enrich the life of this great city. I trust that our presence together will be a powerful sign of our shared desire to be a force for reconciliation, peace and justice in this community and throughout the world. For all our differences and disagreements, we can live in a world of peace. In opposing every attempt to create a rigid uniformity, we can and must build unity on the basis of our diversity of languages, cultures and religions, and lift our voices against everything which would stand in the way of such unity. Together we are called to say “no” to every attempt to impose uniformity and “yes” to a diversity accepted and reconciled.

“This can only happen if we uproot from our hearts all feelings of hatred, vengeance and resentment. We know that that is only possible as a gift from heaven. Here, in this place of remembrance, I would ask everyone together, each in his or her own way, to spend a moment in silence and prayer. Let us implore from on high the gift of commitment to the cause of peace. Peace in our homes, our families, our schools and our communities. Peace in all those places where war never seems to end. Peace for those faces which have known nothing but pain. Peace throughout this world which God has given us as the home of all and a home for all. Simply PEACE.

“In this way, the lives of our dear ones will not be lives which will one day be forgotten. Instead, they will be present whenever we strive to be prophets not of tearing down but of building up, prophets of reconciliation, prophets of peace.”