Pope Francis in New York City on Friday. Credit: YouTube.

JNS.org – Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove and Cantor Azi Schwartz of New York City’s Park Avenue Synagogue on Friday joined Pope Francis as well as leaders from other major religions during an interfaith 9/11 attacks memorial service.

In the emotional service, Cosgrove led off the prayers, saying, “In this place where horrendous violence was committed falsely in the name of God. We representatives of world religions in the great city of New York gather to comfort and pray.”

Imam Khalid Latif, who serves as a Muslim chaplain at New York University, said that “intolerance and ignorance fueled those who attacked this place” and that “we stand together as brothers and sisters to condemn their horrific acts.”

Cosgrove invoked St. Francis, saying, “Let us become instruments of peace.”

“We should love peace and we should pursue peace,” he said.

Schwartz sang a Jewish prayer in honor of the dead.

In his remarks at the service, Pope Francis urged religious leaders to be a “a force for reconciliation, peace, and justice.”

“This is a place where we shed tears” Pope Francis said. “We weep out of a sense of helplessness in the face of injustice, murder, and the failure to settle conflicts through dialogue. Here we mourn the wrongful and senseless loss of innocent lives because of the inability to find solutions which respect the common good. This flowing water reminds us of yesterday’s tears, but also of all the tears still being shed today.”