North Shore remembers 9/11

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September 10, 2010

By Tom Dalton Staff writer The Salem News Fri Sep 10, 2010, 05:45 AM EDT

Nine years after the terrorist attacks, North Shore churches will hold services to mark the Sept. 11 tragedy.

This year, the remembrances will take on added meaning, as several pastors respond to the Quran burning threatened by a Florida church earlier this week (it was called off last night) and the controversy swirling around plans to build an Islamic community center near ground zero in New York City.

The First Church in Wenham will hold a 9/11 service tomorrow at 7 p.m. that will include a reading from the Quran.

The church has done that in past years, reading from different religions but felt it was especially important to turn to the Islamic holy book this year, Senior Pastor Michael Duda said.

"It will be a passage on peace in keeping with the (service's) theme of peace," he said.

St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Peabody will commemorate the tragedy at its 4 p.m. Mass tomorrow with a blessing of "Our Mother of Sorrows of 9/11," an icon created as a remembrance of the day.

"Those who perished in those tragic attacks will be remembered and, in a special way, we will remember the devoted firemen, policemen and EMTs who so courageously gave their lives to help others," Brother Tom, a Marist brother and pastoral associate, wrote in a letter to parishioners.

The Catholic church on the Salem/Peabody line does not plan to stop there. Throughout the year, it will hold a series of programs on a number of related subjects, including the Quran.

"Basically, the Quran is a (holy book) of peace" that decries violence, said Brother Tom, who teaches theology at Malden Catholic High School. "When these terrorists used planes (to kill hundreds of victims), they actually went against their own teachings."

Susan Russell, the priest in charge at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Marblehead, said she had not yet written her Sunday sermon but expected it would touch on the current controversies, including a Florida pastor's threat to burn Qurans.

"It's a pretty horrific misrepresentation of the Christian religion," she said.

Duda, the Wenham pastor, said he is concerned about misunderstandings, based largely on ignorance, among both Muslims and Christians. He fears that people who aren't familiar with Christianity, including many in Muslim countries, will see reports of the threatened Quran burning and conclude, "This is what Christians believe."

"It's what many of us do," he said, "when we look at a religion we're not familiar with, such as Islam, and say, 'Oh, well, they must all be the same (and) everyone believes the same thing as the radical fundamentalists — which we all know is not true."

At Salem State College, a flag ceremony and moment of silence are being held today for the victims of 9/11. The college also has a "wall of remembrance" at the Ellison Campus Center where students and staff can leave messages.

Students will take part in a national day of service tomorrow to mark 9/11.

The Salem Fire Department will hold a remembrance ceremony tomorrow at 10 a.m. at Fire Department Headquarters.

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