September 11 Remembered; Two Authors on Hand

by Lynn Garrett, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 9/6/2006

Next Monday, on the 5th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Loyola School in New York City will sponsor an evening of remembrance at Wallace Hall, under the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on Park Ave (between 83rd and 84th). James Martin, Roman Catholic priest and the author of Searching for God at Ground Zero (Sheed & Ward); and Jim Dwyer, New York Times reporter and author (with Kevin Flynn) of 102 Minutes (Times Books), will speak.

Said Fr. Stephen Katsouros, president of the Loyola School, "Our school is a close community, and we suffered a number of losses that day, both alumni and parents. This year is an important marker, and we wanted to make a place for people to go on a difficult day." Beginning at 6:30 p.m., there will be a brief prayer service, followed by an open book discussion with Martin and Dwyer and time for questions and answers.

When Martin learned of the attacks, he went to a local hospital to see what he could do to help. Over the next two days he worked at a triage center and counseled families at St. Vincent's Hospital. "Then on September 13th I saw a police officer and asked him if there was anything I could do for them downtown. He flagged down a patrol car and they immediately drove me to Ground Zero, where I joined other Jesuits who were ministering to rescue workers. I worked there until mid-October."

Asked about his most vivid memories of those days, Martin said, "For most people September 11 was a Good Friday experience, but for me it was an Easter experience. I felt the Holy Spirit there—in the unity, grace and charity of the workers—more powerfully than I ever have." Martin recalls setting up a table to celebrate Mass at Ground Zero the Sunday after the attacks. "It was the largest parish in the city that day, because most of the police and firefighters were Catholic." There were signs posted around the site for where to get supplies and services, and someone posted a sign near the table that read "The Body of Christ."

For Jim Dwyer, the event will be a homecoming of sorts—he graduated from Loyola 31 years ago, "and it's still a very important place for me. Several alumni from my era at Loyola were killed in the attacks, and others who were younger also died. That's a lot for such a small school—under 200 students." (Coincidentally, his coauthor Kevin Flynn also went to a Jesuit high school, Fordham Prep in the Bronx.)

At the event, said Dwyer, "I'll reflect as a journalist on the day and what I know about it. I've burrowed deeply inside the two buildings and what happened there. The overwhelming violence we saw from a distance obscured a more subtle and powerful picture. This is a story that is best understood man by man, woman by woman. Nobility was rampant, which is why so many survived—people carried strangers down on their backs. Some cleared whole floors and went back to do more."

Said Martin, "I hope the evening enables people to continue their process of trying to make meaning out of the events of that day."