In a journalist’s career, there are few days or events like 9/11.  

That tragic day came early in John Woods’ more than 20 years as editor of Catholic New York, the forerunner of The Good Newsroom. On Sept. 11, 2001, he was the publication’s acting editor. 

The newspaper had just moved to publishing monthly starting in September 2001. Once he became aware of the attacks, Woods wanted to confirm the safety of his staff.

No blueprint, just a mission

“As people streamed up Second Avenue from downtown, I went out just to see what I could see and capture the scene in my own mind, and to be on the spot. Literally, people, like five or six deep, coming up in a wave from downtown, many covered with soot and ash. I saw a few people that I knew and was able to give them a hug and a hello. Really, in that terrible time, you have moments of light,” he said in a Sept. 2 telephone interview. 

With the newspaper’s deadline not imminent and its online presence minimal at the time, there was little pressure to begin reporting immediately. 

“We took a day to collect ourselves. You’re always observing and following the news and seeing how it affected things, but I can’t tell you that we had a total game plan. I just know we had a good team of professionals, and we ended up telling the story in a coherent way that was tinged with faith, and tried to be helpful to people. Not just helpful, but tried to inform people at a time when they needed good information,” Woods recalled. 

Getting from the paper’s Manhattan offices back to Long Island took hours. “I remember coming home. I was in my late 30s at that point. Coming home to my family, I don’t think it ever felt so good to get home. I remember there was relief just in seeing each other, being in each other’s presence. My kids were very young, and obviously my wife was concerned and worried,” he said. 

The archdiocese’s steady presence

The Archdiocese of New York’s leadership role in restoring faith and hope to both the Catholic community and the city at large still echoes for Woods today.

“Obviously you look to your spiritual leaders, and I think Cardinal [Edward] Egan, he was there and he was a steady presence. He led a large interfaith gathering at Yankee Stadium, maybe a week or two after 9/11. I remember one of his terms, which I believe he did coin, was ‘Ground Hero,’ to describe the work that he saw done on the pile at the site. I think he was pretty steadfast in his descriptions of the good he saw being done in the aftermath of such a terrible evil,” Woods said. 

Although the professional lessons of that time were many, Woods most remembers what he learned personally on 9/11 and afterward. 

“It was a very disarming time, and it probably taught me, I’m just saying personally, you can’t prepare for something like that, but have your life in order. Don’t think that you’re necessarily going to have five years to figure out your last moves in life; you may only have five minutes.”