Pope John Paul II’s words the day after 9/11
25 Years after the attacks on New York, we pray with John Paul II for the peace and justice he asked from the Lord that day: "that the spiral of hatred and violence will not prevail."
20 days ago
Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, the Vatican recalls how Pope John Paul II and his successors responded with grief, prayer, and repeated appeals for peace, rejecting revenge and insisting that terrorism, hatred, and violence cannot have the final word. 1
John Paul II was at Castel Gandolfo when he learned of the attacks. Deeply shaken, he withdrew to pray in the private chapel of the Apostolic Palace and sent condolences and a message of solidarity to President George W. Bush. 1
At the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square the following day, the atmosphere was deliberately solemn: at the Pope’s request, there was no applause, and the faithful remained silent. John Paul II described September 11 as “a dark day in the history of humanity” and “a terrible affront to human dignity.” 1
He asked how anyone could commit acts of such “savage cruelty” and directed attention to Christ as the foundation of hope, saying that evil and death would not have the final word. 1
The article also recalls the response of Father Robert Francis Prevost, then an American Augustinian priest and future Pope Leo XIV. At the closing Mass of the Augustinian chapter in Rome on September 21, 2001, Prevost said that hatred and violence would continue to grow amid extreme poverty and injustice. 1
He urged Augustinians to respond not through revenge but by witnessing to “unity, dialogue, peace, and reconciliation.” 1
At the September 11, 2002 General Audience, John Paul II again condemned the attacks and described terrorism as a permanent expression of “inhuman ferocity.” He said that oppression, armed violence, and war produce hatred and death, while “reason and love” are the valid means of resolving disputes. 1
During his 2008 visit to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI prayed at Ground Zero, where he lit a candle in memory of the victims and knelt in silence. He asked God to bring peace to a violent world and to give humanity the wisdom and courage to work for peace and love among nations and within every human heart. 1
On the tenth anniversary in 2011, Benedict described the attacks as a “brutal assault” made even more grievous by the perpetrators’ claim to be acting in God’s name. He emphasized that no circumstance can justify terrorism and that every human life possesses value and dignity. 1
Pope Francis visited Ground Zero in 2015, where he described the attacks as “a senseless act of destruction” and spoke of the grief that continued to cry out to heaven. He said that violence, hatred, and revenge bring only suffering and destruction, while reconciliation and unity can overcome division. 1
Francis concluded his interreligious prayer with an appeal for peace throughout the world, describing it as the common home of all people. 1
In a 2021 message to the G20 Interfaith Forum, he again rejected neutrality on questions of peace, calling for a commitment to resolve conflicts without violence. His closing appeal was: “No more war, no more against others, no more without others!” 1
Across the responses of John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Francis, and the future Leo XIV, the Vatican’s account presents a consistent emphasis on mourning the victims, defending human dignity, rejecting terrorism and revenge, and pursuing peace through dialogue, justice, reconciliation, reason, and love. 1*
Assess how 9/11 shaped Catholic teachings on peace and human dignity
9/11 did not fundamentally alter Catholic teaching; it intensified and clarified its application to terrorism, war, interreligious relations, and human dignity. The Church’s response, especially under John Paul II, combined unequivocal condemnation of terrorism with a refusal to answer violence through indiscriminate violence, revenge, or religious hatred.
The attacks were interpreted first as an assault on the dignity of innocent human beings, not merely as a political or military event. John Paul II stated that no injustice, frustration, philosophy, or religion could justify the attacks, because every person possesses an inviolable right to life and respect.
This also challenged the perpetrators’ claim to act in God’s name. Benedict XVI insisted that terrorism could never be justified and that every human life is precious before God, requiring worldwide respect for the rights and dignity of individuals and peoples. Thus, 9/11 reinforced several principles:
John Paul II’s immediate response described 9/11 as a “terrible affront to human dignity” and emphasized Christian hope: evil and death do not have the final word.
The Church’s response rejected the idea that peace means simply restoring order through force. John Paul II taught that genuine peace requires truth and justice; without them, societies experience only destruction and ruin.
In the aftermath of 9/11, Catholic teaching therefore placed greater emphasis on the conditions that make violence more likely: oppression, exclusion, violated rights, and severe injustice. This was not an excuse for terrorism. Rather, the Church distinguished between explaining the environment in which violence grows and morally justifying the violence itself. John Paul II explicitly stated that no grievance could justify the attacks while also calling for political and economic initiatives to address injustice and prevent hatred from taking root.
Peace consequently became a positive moral project involving solidarity, development, social inclusion, and hope for younger generations—not simply military victory.
9/11 also sharpened the Church’s insistence that justice must not become vengeance. At the 2002 Assisi meeting, John Paul II described justice and forgiveness as the two pillars of peace. Justice protects human rights and dignity; forgiveness heals relationships damaged by hatred.
This did not mean abandoning accountability or public protection. Catholic reflection allowed for legitimate self-defense, but insisted that any force must observe moral and legal limits and distinguish precisely between the guilty and the innocent. It also argued that combating terrorism cannot be reduced to punitive operations; education, economic assistance, and social development may address causes more effectively than weapons alone.
The result was a more explicit Catholic critique of “war on terror” thinking when it treated violence as its own solution. Terrorism and war, John Paul II warned, generate further hatred and death; reason, love, justice, and forgiveness are necessary for resolving conflicts.
Because the attackers invoked religion, 9/11 gave particular urgency to Catholic teaching on interreligious dialogue. John Paul II stressed that religions and their leaders have a duty to serve peace and cultivate respect for the dignity and rights of every person.
The Church therefore resisted both religious violence and anti-religious stereotyping. The moral response was not to identify an entire faith with the crimes of extremists, but to insist that authentic religion cannot be used to justify attacks on innocents. Benedict XVI likewise highlighted the scandal of perpetrators claiming to act in God’s name.
9/11 shaped Catholic teaching chiefly by giving existing principles a new historical focus:
Thus, 9/11 did not replace Catholic teaching on peace and dignity. It tested it. The Church responded by applying the Gospel and its moral tradition to terrorism while warning that the defense of civilization must itself respect the human dignity it claims to protect.