Remarks—Service of Compassion
September 11, 2001—Daniel F. Sullivan

We have witnessed today a global, not just national, tragedy of monumental proportion. For Americans everywhere—most especially, of course, those of us with family and friends who worked in the buildings that were attacked and were traveling on the planes that were hijacked—today was shocking, painful, demoralizing, saddening, wounding, deeply discouraging, angering and, ultimately, numbing. It is daunting even to begin to try to understand such a vicious attack. And of course, we will not know for some time who is safe and who is not, who will be relieved at the arrival of good news and who must begin the mourning of deep personal loss. Our hearts must go out to each other in this terrible time. We gather here tonight to do just that.
But it was also a global tragedy of immense proportion. Everyone anywhere in the world must see today’s vicious terrorist attack, whatever its source, as an assault upon the whole of humanity, not just on America. The individual victims, about whom we know so little at this point, and their families have suffered and will suffer unspeakably, but there is also a huge new wound to the causes of peace, respect for each other, mutual understanding, and the pursuit of just and humane societies everywhere. When the bell tolls, as it will in this chapel tonight, it tolls for all people, everywhere.
Very importantly, we do not yet know who perpetrated such monstrous crimes. Many assumed that the bombing in Oklahoma City was the act of international terrorists. They were wrong. There is plenty of hate to go around here in America.
And even if we do find out who is responsible, we must not conclude that others who may belong to the same national, religious, ethnic, racial or other group are guilty too by association. Individuals must be judged by their own behavior, and not by the group memberships they have.
It’s too early to know what we should try to learn from this terrible tragedy, but we must at the very least commit to a willingness to learn from it. How can such a thing happen? How can we keep it from happening again? What responsibility will each of us, individually, take in ensuring that it doesn’t happen again? How can we express our compassion to those who have suffered brokenness and loss from today’s events? These and other questions must be in our minds now and in the next days.
Most importantly, we must be there for each other as each of us grapples with the meaning of today’s events. We are blessed here with a very special kind of community. But it is a far from perfect community. Can we not, in the wake of the terror of today, commit ourselves to greater humaneness here at home so that when we go forth from here, we enlarge the humaneness of the world as a whole? I believe we can. I believe we must. If compassion is our purpose for being together tonight, action for the good must be our purpose for being together henceforth.
Once again, let me express a deep and profound sympathy on behalf of all Laurentians to the individuals and families, here at St. Lawrence and elsewhere, who were touched most directly by what happened today. We are thinking of you and praying for you. May you somehow come out the other side and see again the light of hope. May you not lose faith that our world may someday truly be a place of peace and justice.