Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Brooklyn, N.Y., joins firefighters as they march across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan en route to the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Brooklyn to mark the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2022. The annual procession honors the memory of the 23 members of the New York Fire Department's Brooklyn-based Battalion 57 that were killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. (Photo: Catholic News Service)
Bishop Robert Brennan joined members of the FDNY’s Battalion 57 in Brooklyn as they processed over the Brooklyn Bridge to the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph. Bishop Brennan met the marchers, who were coming from Lower Manhattan, as they entered Brooklyn.
The marchers carried 25 flags; 24 FDNY flags represented the 23 members of Battalion 57 who were lost at the World Trade Center and a Battalion member’s brother who also died that day, and one American flag.
The procession ended at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, located at 856 Pacific Street in Brooklyn, where the 11 a.m. Mass commemorated the 21st Anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001.
At the start of the Mass, the names of the fallen firefighters from Battalion 57 were read aloud.
In his homily, Bishop Brennan preached, “That day saw the worst of humanity in those attacks, but you know what, it saw also the greatness of humanity, in the men and women who responded so courageously, and so generously, many of your companions, many of your coworkers, collaborators, colleagues, and many who were in these places before you. We saw the goodness and the bravery, the courage of people.”
Bishop Brennan continued, “Today as you marched, as you came in here with those flags standing for those firefighters, your companies, from our companies from here, the fire companies who serve us, I saw the icon, stark icon of the horrors of September 11th, 2001. But as I look beyond and I see all of you here in this church gathered in prayer, I see an icon not only of September 11th, but I see an icon of September 12th, of September 13th. I see an icon of 2002, 2003, 2021, 2022. I see the icon of people who, even in spite of some of those most horrendous things we have witnessed, still stand up and offer themselves in service to their neighbor with courage and generosity; I see you as icons of that courage and generosity; I see you as icons of those who never ever give up.”
Battalion 57 consists of several fire stations and multiple fire companies, including 4 Battalion Chiefs, Engine Companies 217, 219, 230, and 235, as well as Ladder Companies 102 and 105.