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Iron `Cross' Found at Ground Zero
Yahoo News ^
| 4 Oct 2001
| SHANNON McCAFFREY
Posted on 10/06/2001 6:55:49 AM PDT by big'ol_freeper
RETRANSMITTED TO ADD THAT RED ON BUILDING IS A PROTECTIVE MESH--Father Brian Jordan, second from left, blesses, Thursday, Oct.4, 2001, a cross of steel beams found amidst the rubble of the World Trade Center by a laborer two days after the collapse of the twin towers. The cross was from World Trade tower One, and was found in World Trade building Six and moved to its present location Wednesday. Other rescue and construction workers join Jordan for the ceremony. A protective mesh hangs on the building in the background. (AP Photo/Pool,Kathy Willens)
NEW YORK (AP) - A cast iron ``cross'' found in the rubble of the World Trade Center has been adopted by rescue workers as a symbol of faith and blessed with holy water by a Franciscan priest.
The 20-foot tall cross, consisting of two metal beams, fell intact from one of the twin towers into a nearby building.
Laborer Frank Silecchia, 47, found the cross standing almost upright two days after the towers toppled Sept. 11.
``Some people will say it's velocity or physics that put it there. To me it's an act of God,'' said Silecchia, who cried for 20 minutes after his discovery.
Since then rescue workers have made pilgrimages to pray or meditate near the cross. Some etch messages on it. ``God Bless Our Fallen Brothers,'' reads one tribute.
On Wednesday, workers hoisted the cross atop a 40-foot high foundation, formerly a pedestrian walkway. Construction workers, firefighters and police officers stood quietly by as the Rev. Brian Jordan blessed it with holy water.
``Behold the glory of the cross at ground zero,'' Jordan said. ``This is our symbol of hope, our symbol of faith, our symbol of healing.''
The workers prayed and sang God Bless America together before returning to work.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
To: big'ol_freeper
Let me predict this now. It will continue to be at the site during the recovery efforts. Then, when time comes to build the memorial (with the wall) at the site, many people will want it to be part of the site, but in the end it will be deemed too offensive and end up somewhere in the midwest.
2
posted on
10/06/2001 7:09:01 AM PDT
by
Jalapeno
To: Jalapeno
I too had the same thought! Right now it's fine to have it at Ground Hero, but soon it will find it's way to a warehouse somewhere and probably be dismentaled!
To: big'ol_freeper
Tom Sullivan of KFBK1530, Sacramento went over this issue Thursday. He viewed the story on CNN and stated this will emerge as another Urban Legend, just like the image people visioned from the fall of the WTC towers, smoke\dust, (the devil)image etc.....
To: Jalapeno
Dang...you beat me to it. Was going to ask how long it would be before it became too offensive to someone.
To: Tennessee_Bob
Dang...you beat me to it. Was going to ask how long it would be before it became too offensive to someone. Of course, you do realize that a cross was a device for executing people. Why would anyone want to mark a spot where thousands died with a device the likes of which have been used to kill tens of thousands?
</sarcasm>
6
posted on
10/06/2001 8:40:04 AM PDT
by
supercat
To: Thinkin' Gal
bump
To: big'ol_freeper
The ACLU would scream its head off, but wouldn't it be a grand thing if this cross could be incorporated into a permanent memorial to the innocent victims. The Roman Emperor Constantine has been much vilified by revisionist historians, but we might remember the words God is said to have spoken to him: "In hoc signo, vinces." There is no better symbol for suffering and martyrdom that lead to victory than the Cross of Christ.
8
posted on
10/06/2001 8:52:13 AM PDT
by
Cicero
To: big'ol_freeper
To me it's an act of God...
And what was the downing of the two towers?
9
posted on
10/06/2001 9:41:42 AM PDT
by
lelio
To: lelio
An evil act by an egomaniac.
10
posted on
10/06/2001 10:15:06 AM PDT
by
tillacum
To: tillacum
But why isn't that an act of god as well?
11
posted on
10/06/2001 10:17:29 AM PDT
by
lelio
To: big'ol_freeper
Semantics, maybe, but shouldn't that be Steel cross?
To: big'ol_freeper
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hall el OO OO OO OO jah!
13
posted on
10/06/2001 12:17:37 PM PDT
by
DrCarl
To: big'ol_freeper
I think someone was ALREADY OFFENDED on another thread here. Which made me go and set it as my wallpaper.
To: lelio
Because God is not evil.
When he made us, he gave us free will to do good or to do evil,(if you desire), or do nothing. Remember he asked Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of knowledge, for if they did they would lose their innocence, and know right from wrong. Well, they ate from the tree of knowledge and here we are today.
The act of flying a partial load of passengers in an airplane fully loaded with jet fuel, into buildings, causing 6,000 people to be killed is evil.
The cross found at the bottom of the building is a message....
15
posted on
10/06/2001 1:52:35 PM PDT
by
tillacum
Comment #16 Removed by Moderator
To: supercat
Of course, you do realize that a cross was a device for executing people.
Maybe we should call for an immediate ban on crosses...or possibly having them registered...
/sarcasm
To: big'ol_freeper
One thing I'm not quite clear on: were the ends of the cross sheared relatively neatly in the collapse as is shown, or did someone have to use a torch to remove it from the rest of the building? If the former, that's a pretty remarkable coincidence. If the latter, why the hooplah? Certainly the joint in the middle of the cross was deliberately man-made; if the arms were cut to length, the proportions would be also.
18
posted on
10/06/2001 6:31:58 PM PDT
by
supercat
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