Archbishop of Sydney

His Eminence,
Cardinal George Pell
Cardinal Priest of the Title of S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello

See also:

See also: About the Archdiocese


Home > Our Archbishop > Homilies 2001 > Article	Printable Version

Cathedral College Prayer Service for the Victims of Terrorism

St Mary's Cathedral

By + George Pell
ARCHBISHOP OF SYDNEY
13 September 2001

Thirty-six hours ago not one of us would have dreamed that all the Catholic school students of Sydney would be gathering like us to mourn the deaths of thousands of people in New York City and in Washington, murdered by terrorists.

Religious people pray when there is trouble, even when the trouble is not, strictly speaking, their own. Prayer gives us strength and patience in tribulations. We ask God to convert the spiritual energy generated by our prayers to give strength and consolation to the family and friends of the victims. And we pray that those who died will be purged, cleansed of the effects of their sins, even the misguided zealots who caused these catastrophes.

The only reading today is from St. Matthew's gospel, a collection of beautiful teachings called the Beatitudes. These teachings describe processes which start in this life, but are only completed in the next life, in the everlasting happiness of heaven.

We do not believe that it is the end of the story for those murdered in these attacks. The beatitudes trace the paths of good people that lead through the trials and sufferings of this life to the new Promised Land of Heaven.

The poor in spirit, not the proud and arrogant will come into God's Kingdom.

Those who work for justice will find it in heaven. The merciful and the kind will be rewarded, even if they are sometimes despised and trampled on in daily life.

The people who mourn, the loved ones of those who died, those suffering the uncertainty of not knowing the fate of their loved ones; all will be comforted.

The pure in heart will see God and the peacemakers will be recognised as children of God.

It is no coincidence that the crucifix, the image of the Son of God dying like a slave on the cross, is our symbol of hope, the prelude to the resurrection. We cannot avoid all suffering, but we battle against it in faith, help those who are suffering and believe in some mysterious way that suffering can be converted into goodness, even growth. We are people of hope and stronger and better people because of this hope.

We have all suffered a brutal shock, but the shock probably has been greatest for you, our young people, too young to remember even Vietnam, let alone World War Two. This should be a terrible lesson for you that evil and violence don't belong only in nasty, escapist adventure films, but sometimes erupt in spectacular and destructive real life situations. We pray not to be put to the test in extreme situations. We practice in small ways to do good so we can answer the big challenges.

All of us will have to take more care that this catastrophe overseas does not worsen our pressure points here in Australia. We do have some racial and religious tensions; not bitter and deep by world standards, but trends to be reversed. Hostility towards aborigines; violence and threats of violence against Jewish synagogues; Moslems, even their children, insulted and threatened; violence from race-based gangs, and propaganda hostile to our traditions of public tolerance and diversity. We need to pull together; without exception. It is unjust to scapegoat the local Islamic community: they too reject these murders.

Let us now pray together for the victims and their loved ones. We also pray that justice will be done, that the leaders of the Free World will be wise and strong, that those working for a spiral of hate and violence will be disappointed. May the good God save us from worse times ahead, restore sanity and normality and give courage and healing to the survivors.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.