WASHINGTON – “As conflicts intensify around the world, let us renew our commitment to be Christ’s instruments of peace in an increasingly fractured and divided world,” said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a statement marking the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Archbishop Coakley’s statement follows:  

“As we prayerfully remember the tragedy of September 11, 2001, I invite all Catholics to join me in prayer for the victims taken from us in acts of unjustifiable violence 25 years ago at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in rural Pennsylvania. In a special way, we lovingly embrace in prayer the victims’ families and friends, who still mourn the irretrievable loss of their loved ones on that day. We also remember the first responders and emergency workers, so many who gave their lives in selfless acts of courage.

“Amid that terrible day and the dark hours of fear and uncertainty that followed, we must also remember that our faith lifted us up and sustained us. As a nation, we found ourselves turning to God in prayer and looking to our faith with a new intensity and a sense of unity.

“As conflicts intensify around the world, let us renew our commitment to be Christ’s instruments of peace in an increasingly fractured and divided world. The building of peace in our country and around the world — a mission that enables us to be called children of God^[1] — is the great challenge of our time. Our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, tells us that peace is more than just a goal, it is a presence and a journey.^[2] He says that even in places where only rubble remains, and despair seems inevitable, we still find people who have not forgotten peace.

“As we pray for our nation’s continued healing, for the souls of all those lost on that day and the comfort of their families, let us implore the Holy Spirit to conform us, increasingly, into the image of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, and together build a civilization of love and universal fraternity.”