New 9/11 memorial at St. Gertrude Cemetery honors victims, first responders on 20th anniversary
For many, 9/11 was a day that stopped the clock and shook the world after the terrorist attacks left thousands dead in the World Trade Center (WTC), the Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, PA.
Of the 3,000 victims in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, nearly 700 were New Jersey souls. New York City (NYC) is home to the 9/11 Memorial honoring all the lives lost on that day of infamy. St. Gertrude Cemetery in Colonia now honors those victims and their families with its own 9/11 memorial installed on September 8, 2021, just days before the 20th anniversary of 9/11. The monument includes one of the last remaining relics of the WTC.
The journey began when Bishop Manuel A. Cruz, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, celebrated a Confirmation Mass at Sacred Heart Parish in Bloomfield and met parishioner Steve Plate the head of construction for the Freedom Tower on the WTC site.
“I asked if we could have a piece of [WTC] steel for our cemeteries because we don’t forget,” says Bishop Cruz. “It was divine providence.”
Plate took Bishop Cruz and several senior staff members of Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Newark to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in NYC.
They also visited a site with various remnants from the 9/11 attack, including crushed vehicles and building fractures. One intersection of a steel column and beam was broken off in the shape of a cross as a result of being crushed under the collapse of the towers. When Bishop Cruz and the Catholic Cemeteries staff members observed the cross-like steel, they knew it would be the perfect symbol for the 9/11 memorial at St. Gertrude Cemetery.
“We dedicate this [9/11] memorial as a testament to those who lost their lives, to those who fought to save lives, and to those who are rebuilding with a resilient spirit and a common purpose to do good,” said Andrew Schafer, Executive Director of Catholic Cemeteries, who also attended the tour.
Schafer cannot erase the memories of witnessing United Airlines Flight 175 crashing into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He cannot forget the missing person photos and yellow ribbons pinned on the Holy Cross Cemetery fence in North Arlington in the days and weeks that followed, and much more.
Holy Cross Cemetery had a clear view of the NYC skyline, including the twin towers burning and falling into colossal clouds of pulverized debris. It was the site of the first 9/11 memorial designed and installed by Catholic Cemeteries through the leadership and direction of Schafer and Joseph Verzi, Assistant Executive Director.
“There are no words to express my sorrow,” Schafer added. “May God bless America and all the families impacted by this attack.”
Bishop Cruz was anointing a dying patient at Saint Michael’s Medical Center in Newark when the first plane struck. Reflecting on how these events affected his ministry in the months and years to come, Bishop Cruz indicated the fragility of humanity.
Quoting St. Edith Stein, a Carmelite nun who Nazis executed in the Auschwitz concentration camp, Bishop Cruz said, “‘There are two truths that will always be true. We all die, and we don’t know the hour or the day.’ The people that went to work that day did not know.”
St. Gertrude Cemetery’s 9/11 memorial is located across from the cemetery’s American flag and another memorial honoring the military branches of the United States. Weighing 2,530 lbs., the steel is 7’-11″ tall and is set on a 2′ high concrete pier topping out at 9’-11″ above the ground.
The piece of steel was set back on an angle facing the heavens to make it appear as if it is floating in a moment suspended in time, emphasizing the ministry’s mission statement, “We remember. We believe.”
The gray granite headstone next to the 9/11 steel bears the engraving of the date, “September 11, 2001”, the words, “We Will Never Forget,” and the scriptural verse from Romans, 12:21 – “Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.” The headstone also includes an engraving of the twin towers.
The entire project was constructed by Catholic Cemeteries staff, except the stone fabrication and the monument setting, under the direction of Michael Saul, Director of Construction, Planning & Development, and Project Manager Thomas Melito.
“It was a privilege to be able to work on this project as it was an opportunity to honor those we lost on that day,” said Saul. “We have not forgotten 20 years later.”
Bishop Cruz, a Cuban-American who was just six years old when dictator Fidel Castro took power, returned to Cuba as an ordained priest to visit his beloved teacher, Sister Monica Cabodevilla. When he was a child, she secretly provided him with his first Catechism classes in the pharmacy of a Cuban hospital because it was illegal to teach or practice the faith in Cuba in those days.
Sister Monica, a Daughter of Charity of Saint Vincent De Paul, came to Cuba from Navarra, Spain, in 1930 as a missionary at the age of 25. She knew well of the civil war, religious persecution, and the executions of the religious by the communists in Spain. Many religious including members of her own community, suffered martyrdom because of their faith.
Nevertheless, she opted to remain in Cuba to serve the poor and the sick. Over time, she persevered and continued sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ by her own witness.
“The sisters summed it up in one word – afraid,” Bishop Cruz exclaimed as he drew a parallel between a pre-Castro Cuba and the United States today. “I hope everyone will appreciate living in a free country and that freedom is a gift to fight for and should never be taken for granted because it can be lost.”
“Patria (Homeland) y Vida (life),” Bishop Cruz added. “We must be grateful that we have a country that is free and gives us the freedom to express our faith and to live our lives in peace.”
For more information regarding St. Gertrude Cemetery, please visit https://www.rcancem.org/saint-gertrude-cemetery-a-mausoleum/.
Photos courtesy of Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Newark
