An estimated 7,000 students and employees gathered on the South Quad for a special Mass the afternoon of the terrorist suicide hijackings, September 11. By late morning all classes and activities had been canceled and a day of prayer had been declared.
At the Mass, Father Malloy began by telling the crowd, “All I know how to do on these kinds of occasions is simply draw from the well of our faith, that death does not have the final word, that God will make all things new, that we can learn the capacity for love in the hope of faith.” He later said, “This is not a time for recriminations, for misdirected blame, but rather for prayer, sympathy comfort and support.”
Early word had three people with Notre Dame connections aboard the crashed airliners: a hall rector’s niece who was a flight attendant, an alumnus priest from the Eastern Province of the Holy Cross congregation, and the brother of a PLS professor.
Visit the Alumni Association web page (see links) for an updated list of ND family and friends lost on this day of tragedy.
Photo by Ed Cohen