The "Ground Zero Cross": A Sign of Hope

The World Trade Center cross, also known as the Ground Zero cross, is a formation of steel beams found among the debris of the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, New York City, following the September 11 attacks in 2001. It was blessed by a Catholic priest and for ten straight months Mass was repeatedly celebrated below it for the first responders and survivors. 

The Third Day and the Empty Cross

On the third day, September 13, 2001, they went to look for the bodies (of any World Trade Center survivor from the 9/11 attack). They found an empty cross instead. The cross without a corpus in Catholic tradition is symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus.

The 17 foot steel beam Ground Zero Cross was found by a construction worker. It jutted up through a pile of twisted metal and ash covered debris. It stood tall atop a Golgotha-like mountain of death and destruction. 

The Source and Summit at Ground Zero

The Rev. Brian Jordan, OFM a Franciscan priest who spent the whole day on 9/11 blessing dead bodies pulled from the smoking heap, sprinkled the cross with holy water and declared: "Behold the glory of the cross at ground zero. This is our symbol of hope, our symbol of faith, our symbol of healing". Now, a holy sacramental, the cross became a marker of  a new ‘ground zero’;  "The source and summit" of the Christian life from which God’s love and mercy began to flow. It was the spot where the Mass was celebrated. Fr. Brian celebrated Mass before it every Sunday for ten months straight in the days and weeks after 9/11. 

Fr. Brian, in his own words, described his experience on 9/11. “I decided to get some holy water and go down to the World Trade Center to see what I could do to be of assistance. Around 1 pm, one of my other fellow Franciscans informed me that my good friend, mentor, and fellow Franciscan Father Mychal Judge, was killed at the World Trade Center. At the time, he was serving as a chaplain to the FDNY. I had to decide whether to feel sorry for myself or do what Mychal would want me to do. So I walked all the way down to the site. I recognized a couple of the police officers and they let me go in to start blessing bodies. I did that for a good part of the day before I went back to the friary.” 1

God’s House

Father Brian was taken into the inner precincts of destruction, into what some described as the pits of hell , the aftermath of human savagery. From within, through the smoke and putrid air, he saw a sign that grace prevails over sin. It was a giant, metallic reminder that God never abandons us even in our darkest moments. On the contrary, Jesus who descended into hell after his crucifixion, is still present to his followers no matter what level of evil and no matter how hellish the circumstances may be.

Fr. Brian recalled, “I met Frank Silecchia, a construction worker from Local 731. He asked me if I wanted to "see God’s house.’" I looked at him and said, “God’s house is right there. St. Peter’s Church is right nearby.”...I followed him and went into what was 6 World Trade Center. He said, “Look down below, Father.” Right there, I saw for the first time the famous cross at Ground Zero. I realized that God was right there.”

On July 23, 2011, the cross was blessed again by Fr. Jordan, loaded on a flatbed truck, and moved back to Ground Zero. It now sits in the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. 

We know that the spiritual power that emanates from that holy sacramental, what we call the Ground Zero Cross, is real. Atheists have taken the City of New York officials to court and spent a lot time and money to have the cross removed. They even sued Father Brian. Of course, they claimed that the steel beams in shape of a cross violated the separation of church and state. They lost in court. That cross is not going anywhere because it has a divine purpose. It gives all Americans  hope in the goodness of God and in his mercy. Today, on September 11, that is what we choose to remember. See video below...