Pope Benedict visits Ground Zero in New York

amplify image

The Pope blesses Ground Zero. Photo: EFE

Pope Benedict visited Ground Zero, site of the World Trade Center destroyed in the Sept. 11 attacks, on Sunday to pray for the nearly 3,000 victims and their families and for an end to hatred and violence.

Fog shrouded the tops of nearby skyscrapers in New York's financial district as the pontiff's popemobile drove down a flag-flanked ramp to the construction site on the black bedrock of lower Manhattan.

Among the small group of guests were 16 relatives of people killed when hijacked jets hit the towers, four first responders and four survivors of the attacks. Using a white-and-yellow kneeler before a pool of water, the pope prayed for those who died at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and on United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001.

He then lit a tall candle at the pool and read out a special prayer. After praying for the dead and their families, he said: "God of peace turn to your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred. Grant that those whose lives were spared may live so that the lives lost here may not have been lost in vain. Comfort and console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and courage to work tirelessly for a world where true peace and love reign among nations and in the hearts of all".

Benedict, dressed in a long white coat against the wind and damp, then blessed the site with holy water and recited a prayer for the dead, with the guests answering "Amen".

Controversial interpretation

The passage about those with "minds consumed with hatred" has stirred controversy because some people interpreted it as a prayer for hijackers who were killed in the attacks. Vatican officials have not interpreted the prayer but noted that Benedict has in the past urged radicals to eschew violence and use only peaceful means.

Last month, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden accused Benedict of being part of a "new crusade" against Islam. The Vatican rejected the accusation. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he had no concerns about the content of the prayer.

"He really does understand what happened here and how this was an attack on freedom-loving people around the world and people who want to be able to practice their religion", Bloomberg told Reuters at Ground Zero. "I think that he has always been a man of peace and a man who believes we should live together and he is praying for everyone".

It was eerily silent in the construction site 75 feet (25 meters) below street level. Memorial services at Ground Zero are not usually held at the bottom of the crater left behind after the attacks because the area is now a construction site. The pope spoke with each of the 24 guests, some of whom were Catholics and kissed his ring as they stepped up to meet him. They were later given small crosses made of the steel from the rubble of the World Trade Center and inscribed with the words "Remembering 9-11".

One of those attending was John McLoughlin, a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police officer who was one of the last people pulled out and who was the focus of the Oliver Stone movie "World Trade Center" starring Nicolas Cage.