But like firefighters running into the Twin Towers as thousands tried to escape the danger, many Catholic priests rushed to the scene on that tragic day, blessing the bodies of victims, or offering pastoral care to survivors and the bereaved and moral support for first responders. Many more around the city held down the home parish, where they did everything from presiding over prayer vigils to counseling the fearful to comforting those whose loved ones were missing. Some priests saw with their own eyes what was happening from a distance and prayed a conditional absolution of the sins of those whose lives were in peril.
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