Eventually, the religious leaders joined with representatives from business, politics, and the military to build the event, a tribute to the heroes and the victims of Sept. 11, and to the service members deployed worldwide. They met weekly all summer.
The spiritual highlight of the tribute - which includes musical performances, poetry, readings, and remarks from leaders such as Governor Deval Patrick - will be a common prayer led by 17 religious leaders.
“We understand the meaning of this society, that this is a pluralistic society and that this is a way to bring harmony to society, to work with one another,’’ said Imam Talal Eid, executive director of the Islamic Institute of Boston, who helped draft the prayer.
Eid, who is also chaplain at Brandeis University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said sharing the reading of the prayer demonstrates the cooperation that went into organizing the event.
“In this way, it is coming as [a] universal prayer, and regardless of who will say the prayer, it is accepted by all of us,’’ he said.
David Hastings, president of the Massachusetts 9/11 Fund, who will be among the speakers, described the way clergy members came together as “wondrous and seamless.’’
The Boston experience stands in sharp contrast to news accounts from New York, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been lambasted for not including clergy members as part of the city’s official ceremony.
Thousands of people signed a petition asking for a formal prayer at today’s ceremony, the Associated Press reported yesterday, but Bloomberg said it would be impossible to include all the religious leaders who would want to participate.
The ceremony, as it has each anniversary, will include a reading of the victims’ names, punctuated by moments of silence.
“Many of us served here after the attacks, and we know the importance of prayer and the presence of clergy,’’ the Rev. Rob Schenck, an evangelical pastor, told the Associated Press. “To exclude them from the ceremony was hurtful.’’
