There will be no separation between this steel “cross” and the World Trade Center memorial.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday rejected a bid by American Atheists Inc. to remove the famed cross-shaped steel beams that survived the 9/11 attacks from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
The federal appeals panel sided with Manhattan federal Judge Deborah Batts’ ruling last year that the relic’s historical importance outweighs potential concerns over issues of separation of church and state.
“[Given] the absence of any evidence of ulterior religious motives, and the undisputed historical significance of The Cross at Ground Zero, we conclude that, as a matter of law, the record compels the conclusion that the actual purpose of displaying the cross in the September 11 Museum is a genuine secular interest in recounting the history of extraordinary events,” the panel wrote.
The atheist group had sued the Port Authority and museum operators in 2011 — roughly three years before the museum opened in March underneath a national memorial dedicated to documenting the history of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the heroic rescue and recovery efforts that followed.
The historic artifact is a 17-foot, 4,000-pound steel crossbeam shaped like a Latin cross that was found by excavator Frank Silecchia. The Rev. Brian Jordan, a Franciscan priest who performed rites at Ground Zero, blessed the cross as a point of refuge.