Dear Friends of Peace,
 
The events of ten years ago caused agony in the lives of thousands, and there can be no doubt that these were acts of atrocity and evil.  The message St. Paul's Chapel shares a decade removed from that time is an ancient one born of a source more powerful than evil.  We say that the world is good, and we remember to love.
 
It is a message of creation, the start of the biblical story of humanity:  in the beginning, God made the world and called it good.  In our partnership with God, each of us is asked to ensure that the world is in fact as good as God would have it.
 
And so we follow the example of the those first responders and those who volunteered at Ground Zero.  We follow the examples of those who live lives of service of others.  We learn from those who, when faced with uncertainty and fear that clear September day, called family and friends to whisper those words that bind us and make the world whole:  I love you, I will always love you.
 
Thank you for your own example of this commitment to love and to a world of good.  We offer our prayers for you and thank you for your prayers for us during this important time of remembrance.
 
Sincerely,
 
Jim Cooper
XVII Rector, Trinity Wall Street

To mark the 10-year anniversary of September 11, participants, guests, and visitors as well as Berlin residents and tourists are called to wear blue clothing as a sign that they want to live together peacefully.

The terrorist attacks in the USA on the 11th of September 2001 showed how religions could could misuse violence in the name of God. At the same time the ensuing developments have shown how great the mutual challenges are for people of different religions to form a peaceful coexistence in culturally and religiously pluralistic societies.

A planning group consisting of people from various religious communities in Berlin are organizing a mutual witness to peace that will occur on Sunday, the 11th of September 2011 at the Brandenburg Gate. The planning group also seeks to encourage the organization of such religious events in other communities. The goal of these events is twofold: first, to memorialize the victims of the attacks in the USA and the victims of the ensuing military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and second, to recall the promises of peace that are found in the world’s religions and to create concrete opportunities for peaceful encounters with people of various religious confessions.

You will find on this page a questionnaire to approache to the political and religious issues and instructions for the preparation of an event. The logo may be used on demand.

Indications of events at other places, we would be happy and be looking for ways by links about us.

Please give the reference to this idea and this website on to other possible interested persons.

Peace be with you! Schalom! Salam!

Dr. Gerdi Nützel (Coordinator)



(Translation: Rev. Stephan Kienberger, Pastor der American Church in Berlin)

On 11 September 2001, terror came from the sky. Terrorists brought down the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York with two airliners. The life of many people was abruptly and brutally terminated. The attacks showed how religions can be abused for violence in the name of God. Developments around the world as well as in Germany have made clear since then how great the challenges are for living together peacefully in culturally, religiously, and ideologically pluralistic societies. In order to commemorate the victims of the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the USA together with the victims of the subsequent military conflicts and to work for peace, people from different religions established the initiative “Religions on the Path of Peace”. Their symbol is a blue peace dove, composed of various human figures.

On Sunday the 11th of September 2011, on the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks in the USA, the interreligious initiative “Religions on the Path of Peace” invites to a common remembrance and peace testimony around the Brandenburg Gate. They encourage interested citizens of Berlin and guests in the city to wear blue articles of clothing on September 11th as a sign of their will for peace; be it a scarf, jacket, trousers, skirt, T-shirt, sweater, headscarf, or hat. Everyone interested in living together peacefully can thus participate at the Brandenburg Gate together with others or as a symbol at other locations in the city.

At the Brandenburg Gate, music from a religious tradition will be heard at every hour from sunrise to sunset. It will concentrate during the afternoon as the remembrance approaches and will be interrupted by a silence at the moment of the first attack at 2.46 p.m.

From 2.30 to 4 p.m., the participants will commemorate the victims of the attacks in the USA and the victims of the subsequent military conflicts. They dissociate themselves from violence in the name of religion and speak of the promises of peace of the religions. Representatives of various religions are gathered at a round table during the day. From noon to 12.45 p.m., a discussion on the topic “Religion Violence Peace” will be held. Opportunities are provided for participants of the event for discussions and for peaceful meetings with people of different religions and interreligious initiatives.

At 4 p.m., a large blue peace dove of people is formed at the Brandenburg Gate, which also represents the logo of the event. Young and old from different religious communities as well as from culture and politics take part in it.

Interreligious initiative: Religions on the Path of Peace

Ender Cetin, Jochen Fey, Peter Heine, Burhan Kesici, Steve Kienberger, Christina Maria Krimmling, Lydia Nofal, Gerdi Nützel, Dido Roggatz, Katharina von Bremen, Kumar Vasanth, Ortrud Wohlwend

Berliner Sparkasse

KTO: 190 028 360, BLZ: 100 500 00

BIC: BELADEBEXXX, IBAN: DE07100500000190028360

(Translation: Alan Benson)