DIOCESE OF GREENSBURG COMMEMORATES 20th ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11

GREENSBURG — Twenty years after one of the darkest days in American history, the pain surrounding the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, is still very real for members of the faith community in the Diocese of Greensburg. To commemorate the 20th anniversary, the Diocese of Greensburg will launch “We Remember,” a week-long video remembrance series which can be viewed on the Diocese of Greensburg website, Facebook page and YouTube Channel.   

“We Remember” Video Remembrance Series

September 10, 2021 – Bishop Larry J. Kulick will visit the Westmoreland 9-1-1 Center at 10 a.m., where he will talk to leaders there about the calls that came in that fateful day as terrorists hijacked a plane that ultimately crashed across the county border in Shanksville, Somerset County.  He will then visit the Fayette County 9-1-1 Center at 1 p.m. where he will lead a prayer service and speak to dispatchers who were working on 9/11/2001. 

September 11, 2021 – Bishop Larry J. Kulick will host a remembrance Mass at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Greensburg at 4:30 p.m. The public is welcome and the Mass will also be live streamed on the Diocese of Greensburg website, Facebook page and YouTube Channel. 

September 12, 2021 – A mini-documentary the from Bishop’s visit to the Westmoreland 9-1-1 Center will be available for viewing on the Diocese of Greensburg website, Facebook page and YouTube Channel. 

September 13, 2021 – Jerry Zufelt, retired editor of The Catholic Accent, provides an observational documentary about the events and coverage of that day and how people of Western Pa. turned to the Church to help deal with a range of difficult emotions. That will be released on the Diocese of Greensburg website, Facebook and YouTube Channel. 

September 14, 2021 – A video will be released about Judy Colfer, a Greensburg-area Catholic who was in New York City for a professional conference on September 11, 2001. She recounts her harrowing escape from the World Trade Center’s North Tower just minutes before it collapsed.

September 15, 2021 – A video interview with The Catholic Accent’s former feature writer Melissa Brown will be released, in which she describes her day at the crash site in Shanksville where she interviewed people who saw the jet immediately before it went down.

September 16, 2021- A mini-documentary from the Bishop’s visit to the Fayette 9-1-1 Center will be available for viewing on the Diocese of Greensburg website, Facebook and YouTube Channel. 

September 17, 2021 – A video will be released featuring Donna Rethi, a former production coordinator for the Indiana Gazette newspaper, who talks about her memories from the newsroom of a daily newspaper and how she learned the next day that a cousin and his wife were flight attendants on the jet that hit the Pentagon.

Background

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, four passenger airliners departing from Boston, Washington, D.C., and Newark, N.J., were hijacked by teams of terrorists. Two jets were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City, resulting in the collapse of both towers and the deaths of more than 2,700 people. A third jet flew into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., which killed 125 people in the jet and the building. The fourth jetliner was en route to another target in Washington, but the passengers fought back, forcing the jet to crash in an empty field in Shanksville, Somerset County. The 40 passengers and crew members all perished, but no one on the ground was killed. 

The videos for “We Remember” will be produced by The Catholic Accent team and will include photos taken at Shanksville by former Catholic Accent photographer Ed Zelachoski. 

“Tens of millions of Americans have no direct recollection of that day,” said Jen Miele, the diocese’s Chief Communications Officer who will conduct several of the interviews. “It is important to tell those stories for the young people who don’t recall that day and to help them understand what an import role faith played in the nation’s recovery from these horrific acts.  This will also remind people of the heroism of the passengers on Flight 93 and of the courage of the many first responders here, in New York City and in Washington, D.C., who risked their lives and in many cases gave their lives for others.”

Media coverage is welcome at the Sept. 10 visits to 9-1-1 centers by Bishop Kulick and the Mass on Sept. 11. Please call the Office for Communications to confirm your coverage or to ask any questions.