In his address to Congress Thursday night, the President spoke of many dimensions to the war, but left no doubt about his willingness to use force against both terrorists and those who harbor them.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring
justice to our enemies, justice will be done.ABERNETHY: Just before the speech, at the White House, 25 religious leaders listened to the President describe his objectives. They prayed with him, twice, sang "America the Beautiful," and came away expressing strong support.
CARDINAL EDWARD EGAN: He is a president who is pursuing justice. He is leading the country with compassion. He is leading the country in prayer. And we were all delighted to tell him, this is a country united with him.
DR. JAMES MERRITT (Southern Baptist Convention) I can speak on behalf of all who met with him: his faith in America is strong, his faith in God is strong, he is ready to meet the challenges ahead of us.
ABERNETHY: Later in this program, a discussion of what religious traditions and international law say about the rules and limits of retaliation. All this past week, there was grieving and recovery, and the search for explanation and comfort. Kim Lawton surveys the many religious responses to September 11th.
KIM LAWTON: In the shadow of the still-smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center, Reverend Daniel Paul Matthews and other leaders of the historic Trinity Church Wall Street headed back to work. The Episcopal parish is one of the oldest in the U.S. -- more than 300 years old. The current church building, a few blocks away from the trade center, was consecrated in 1846…and despite the devastation of the neighborhood, Trinity still stands. Eight days after the terrorist attacks, the church was allowed to reopen its doors.
The interior suffered little damage. But the centuries-old cemetery was buried by debris. FBI and recovery officials sifted through the mess before church officials were allowed back. Matthews says Trinity, like the entire nation, is now trying to recover and move forward.
REV. DANIEL PAUL MATTHEWS (rector, Trinity Church Wall Street): We look
at this tall spire, which was for decades the tallest building in all of America,
and that symbol still represents the strength, the commitment, and the deep spiritual
quality of our nation.LAWTON: Five hundred feet from ground zero, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was totally destroyed. No one died there, but the archdiocese lost more than 100 parish members at the Trade Center. Rescue workers managed to salvage a few pieces of the Church. But church officials have not yet been able to recover their holy relics of three saints.
The archdiocese has launched a relief effort to rebuild St. Nicholas and to provide other assistance. Archbishop Demetrios gathered clergy from New York and New Jersey to discuss ways to minister to their grieving congregations.
Ministry is also continuing at the Pentagon. The Salvation Army and numerous other religious groups are providing on-the-scene counseling for recovery workers who have been digging through the wreckage for more than a week.
MAJOR BERT TANNER (counselor, Salvation Army Trauma): We'll say to them,
"you're really hurting, aren't you?" Which gives them the opportunity to say,
"yeah, I am. It's really an emotional trauma that I'm experiencing here." It's
amazing how much something like this has opened the spiritual possibilities to
many of them.LAWTON: Around the nation, people across the spectrum have been seeking solace in the spiritual. Roman Catholic Bishop Kenneth Angell of Vermont lost his brother and sister-in-law.
ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP KENNETH ANGELL: Yes, the terrorists should be brought
to justice, but we must respond in a Christ-like manner by striving to forgive
even our persecutors, even the perpetrators of this infamous day of evil in America.LAWTON: Religious services have been packed and overflowing with people coming to pray and to seek answers.
MATTHEWS: At a time like this, stuff and things and money and power mean
next to nothing. And we know that. And so we say, well, what does mean something?
What is everlasting? What is the truth behind being a person? And those questions
are spiritual questions.ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOS (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America): You either become that person who loses everything in terms of hope, or you turn to the reality of God.
FAITH KIRK: To be able to look at myself and say, you know, I know you
are angry. I know you have hatred, but you have to cleanse. You have to learn
that we must move on from here.
JOSHUA SALAAM, (Council on American-Islamic Relations): I got one call
and it wasn't anything really tough, but it was just that talking with the woman,
and the way she sounded, how frightened she sounded, made me sad, you know.
JAMES MATLACK, (American Friends Service Committee): Tuesday was a terrible
day. No one could spend that day watching the images and not be so profoundly
shaken and hurt by it. But it is not the role of national policy to act out of
that emotional context.
HABERMAN: My faith is not committed to pacifism. That is to say, I believe
that I must resist evil, if necessary, with power. That I have the right to destroy
those who come to destroy me. 
