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CNN Live At Daybreak

Interview with Ray Giunta

Aired September 10, 2002 - 06:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: When something as horrendous as the September 11 attacks happens, it's hard for people to understand and cope with the tragedy. Often, they turn to prayer and counselors for answers.
Ray Giunta spent 68 days as a chaplain at ground zero last. He is also the author of "God @ Ground Zero," and he joins us live this morning from New York.

Thanks for joining us.

REV. RAY GIUNTA, AUTHOR, "GOD @ GROUND ZERO": Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: I just...

GIUNTA: Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Your job during the terrible moment after September 11 is just incredible, and I want to read just an excerpt of what exactly you did. Your specific job duty would be, when they found a victim's body, you would stand by while they wrapped a flag around the body. You would say a prayer for them. And then, you would accompany the body to the morgue and help the family make arrangements.

How did you manage that and stay sane for 68 days?

GIUNTA: Well, obviously, with a lot of prayer and a very strong sense of faith. You know, really, we would pay dignity and respect to the fallen heroes there at the World Trade Center, but the real key to staying sane is to focus on the living, those people that have to work there every single day, and did a wonderful job serving America, the Pentagon and Somerset and there in New York City.

COSTELLO: Well, you have the added hardship of people asking you very difficult questions. I was reading excerpts from your book, and a lot of people asked you: Why did God let this happen? How did you respond?

GIUNTA: One morning I was at the site, and a woman who had been there on ground zero had heard that, and she had asked that question to me. And, why did God let this happen? Is he mad at us? Is he angry? Are we being punished? Well, Carol, that's bad theology. If God wanted to punish anybody, he could start with me and my life.

But I would share with them that, you know, when we have a baby, we don't want God to interrupt. When we get married, we don't want God to interrupt. When we're about to win the lottery, get that new job or buy that new home, we don't want God to interrupt. We have made a deal with God. It's called choice.

Unfortunately, when people do bad things, God doesn't interrupt either. But we can be assured, Carol, of one thing. That in those crises, in those times, God is there in a very real and a very present way. As evidenced by the stories that we have heard of the 20 survivors from the World Trade Centers, of the hundreds of thousands of people that should have been killed that weren't, of those that were spared, and of those that I believe that God comforted even in those moments, in those last minutes that they were here with us on the earth.

COSTELLO: All of those people you comforted, all of the terrible things you must have seen there, what has been the image that sticks most with you?

GIUNTA: The crosses in God's house. When we found them with Frank (ph), the laborer, and going to that place night after night, meeting with the heroes -- the construction workers, the steel workers, the iron, the carpenters, the firemen, the police. We would go there, we would pray, we would cry, we would weep, we would yell, we would scream, and we would just sit quietly in the presence of God.

And in the midst of that cross, the one we found there, and as I returned back to the site here on the eve of the anniversary to see that that beacon, the cross is still there. It was a special gift from God, I believe, for all of us and stands as a beacon and a light and a testimony that his love is still with us.

COSTELLO: As we remember September 11 tomorrow, and we see the images once again, should we find comfort from them, and how can we?

GIUNTA: Well, they are images that show us of an evil day in the history of America, but also of a great day -- of a day that a country that was slightly disconnected and desensitized of pain and anguish came together in unusual ways.

I know personally for me the thousands and thousands of cards and letters that were sent by American schoolchildren, Muslim schoolchildren, people from all over the world, who just said, you know what? I care. I am praying for you. Keep up the good work. You're our heroes.

You know, these images, yes, they are painful. They make -- the best of us will shed a few tears. I heard Aaron Brown say last night he will have a difficult day tomorrow. And I know for myself, it will the same. But I am also reminded of the greatness of humanity that has come from these events throughout the past year.

COSTELLO: Oh, you've got that right.

GIUNTA: So, I'm going to pull on those restraints (ph) tomorrow.

COSTELLO: OK, good advice. Ray Giunta, thank you very much -- a chaplain who spent 68 days at ground zero. The book: "God @ Ground Zero."

GIUNTA: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sure.

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