Memory and Light

THE ATTACK launched on 9/11 by Al-Qaeda against the United States and the free world was unprecedented in terms of savagery and brutality. The passenger planes plunging into the Twin Towers (one of the landmarks of New York), the harrowing images of the people jumping from the smoking Towers, the subsequent collapse of the World Trade Centre, the survivors walking the streets of Manhattan in disbelief, covered in dust and ashes, have all been engraved deeply into the collective memory of humanity.

George W. Bush, then President of the United States, a few hours after the tragedy, declared, “America was targeted for attack because we’re the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining”.

This May, after almost ten years from what is known as the most virulent terrorist attack in history, Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the attacks, was killed in Pakistan by US Navy Seals.

In announcing the death of the Al-Qaeda leader, President Barack Obama said, “We will be relentless in defence of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to Al-Qaeda’s terror: Justice has been done”.

In many cities in the United States, and in the rest of the free world as well, feverish preparations are underway for the tenth anniversary of September 11 attacks. Commemorative ceremonies, gatherings and memorial services will remember the 2,977 lives that were cut short, some for just going to work that day, others for trying to help save as many others as possible.

Here in Padua, the city of Saint Anthony, preparations are also underway to mark the event. The Saint’s city is proud of possessing Memory and Light, the only monument in Europe dedicated to the tragedy of 9/11.

Memory and Light, which has received the enthusiastic support of the population of our city, is a glass structure vaguely resembling, in book form, the Twin Towers, and is laid out in the direction of the Statue of Liberty in New York. Encased within the structure is a 6-meter-long, twisted steel beam; this is a fragment from the South Tower of the World Trade Centre, and is a gift of the United States to the Veneto Region. The beam, which  stands out clearly from the structure, has taken on the aura of a relic.

This work of art was explained very beautifully by Daniel Libeskind, the American architect who designed it, “The light of Liberty shines through the Book of History. This book is open to the memory of the heroes of September 11, 2001.” The book is luminous, as is the low and expressive wall surrounding the monument which creates a place conducive to intimate meditation.

Every day thousands of people pass by the monument on their way to work, and one wonders if the values of peace and brotherhood, which the monuments represents, do not in this way pass slowly into the heart and soul of the busy commuters.

Now, ten years after those dramatic days, a legitimate question haunts our souls: Can the world find the path to peace and international justice? Can the peoples of the earth find a way of working together, and along with this, the way to comprehensive prosperity and well-being?

The terrorists who attacked the Twin Towers ten years ago, and who continue to kill thousands of innocent people around the world are clearly saying ‘No’.

Padua, the city of Saint Anthony, with its legacy of tolerance and solidarity, says ‘Yes’. Memory and Light is a symbolic representation of a twofold necessity. First, to be mindful of the evils of  fanaticism and hatred, secondly, to never lose faith in the values of solidarity, peace, justice and equality, just like Saint Anthony did all those ago.