It was a day that started like any other for Fr. Terrence “Terry” McKenna. Then in his 12th year as a senior chaplain with the Toronto Airport Catholic Chaplaincy, he walked through the terminal of Pearson International Airport anticipating the regular weekly chaplain meeting that was set to happen as if it were any other day.  

While he can’t recall if it was an email or a fax that he sent out to the team that Tuesday morning, what Fr. McKenna says he will never forget, not for the rest of his life, was the response that he received from one of his colleagues. 

“ I sent the agenda outlining the list of things we were going to deal with that day when one of the chaplains called back and said, ‘Do you not know? Are you not listening to the news? Don't you know what is going on?’” he recalled. 

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By that time, American Airlines Flight 11 had already struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center, just after 8:45 a.m. 

The day was September 11, 2001, and Fr. McKenna was in the closest major Canadian airport to the attacks being carried out in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan.  

By 9:03 a.m., the South Tower would be struck by United Airlines Flight 175. Not an hour later, the tower that stood burning for 56 minutes would collapse. The North Tower would follow 29 minutes later. 

2,977 people would lose their lives that morning. 

As Fr. McKenna remembers, there wasn’t a displayable human emotion that he didn’t encounter inside of Pearson throughout that morning as the tragic events unfolded. 

“ I can remember that day well. We truly experienced the whole spectrum of response. Some thought that there were going to be more attacks that day and the next, some thought it was the end of time, and some people didn’t know what to think — it was all bad news,” he told The Catholic Register. 

While Fr. McKenna viewed the events as immediately tragic himself, the timeline of events unfolded so fast that he, like many others that day, could not immediately grasp the severity of what was taking place, events that still remain the deadliest terrorist attack in history.

“When the chaplain told me what had happened, I remember saying, ‘Well, that’s in New York, and we are here in Toronto.’ Then I learned all the flights had been cancelled, and that the ones in the air all had to land as soon as possible wherever that happened to be.  It took me a while to capture how serious this whole thing was,” he said. 

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He described a combined daze across airport staff and travellers alike, deep distress setting in as family members waiting for arrivals who never came, either stranded elsewhere or feared to have been on the hijacked airliners, and airport employees whose families did not know where they had been forced to land.

Amidst the chaos and confusion, Fr. McKenna still recalls being particularly struck by how rapidly ordinary people thought of others’ needs. 

“There was this wonderful sense of response from people who decided that this was a time to be present for people in their various states of need. We learned about all the people who were stranded at the airport and were being offered a place to stay for a night or two. That stuff surprises you — that people were that quick to think of one another,” he said. 

The day also saw outside groups like the Knights of Columbus and others call the airport and the chaplaincy division to see what they could do or if their presence was needed. 

Fr. McKenna and other Pearson chaplains had their own work to do as well, taking to the public spaces known to the team as the “grand halls” later that morning. There, the ministry of presence, usually unique to chaplains but shared by all that day, truly began as daily Mass was held for those affected.

“We had to do a lot of listening, just letting people vent, cry, be angry and confused as to what this is all about. What a crazy thing; we had never heard or seen anything like this before,” the 80-year-old said. 

“You just have to sort of be there for them in that moment, and you try not to give explanations because there aren’t any complete or satisfying ones. You let people live in their misery, confusion, pain or shock, whatever it may be at that moment.” 

While the following days were less dramatic yet still marked by uncertainty and limited information, the team continued their daily Masses and support to those nearby as families received clearer updates from the airlines and once-unreachable relatives.

Looking back on the most indelible day in his time as airport chaplain, a role he served from 1989 to 2011, the now-retired priest attests that even as 25 years have passed since that horrible morning, what remains in his mind is proof he saw firsthand of faith in action — even on one of the world’s darkest days. 

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“ People told me later how good it was to see the Church and God as part of the scene. I won’t forget people having doubts that day about everything, about God, asking where God is, but He was still there. He was helping, and helping through the people and their response,” Fr. McKenna said.  

“Even on one of the worst days, that spirit of accompaniment was still there for people.”