Pope Francis Talks About 'Palpable' Grief at 9/11 Memorial

— -- Pope Francis arrived today at the site of the Sept. 11 terror attacks for what was called a "multi-religious gathering."

He was far from the only religious leader present, as Cardinal Timothy Dolan was to introduce the pontiff. But there are also Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and other leaders involved in the ceremony.

Pope Francis said a prayer and laid a white rose at the slabs of names of victims by one of the two reflecting pools. He then met with several relatives of first responders who died in the attack, as well as former New York City Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The group then went into the museum's great hall, located at the bedrock of the building, where a prayer service was held and Pope Francis gave a short speech. He started his remarks by apologizing, in English, that he would be saying the rest of the speech in Spanish.

"I feel many different emotions standing here at Ground Zero, where thousands of lives were taken in a senseless act of destruction. Here grief is palpable," he said.

Before his visit, museum curator Jan Ramirez gave ABC News an overview of the tour that the pontiff would receive during his visit.

The backdrop for the interfaith service of peace is the surviving retaining wall of the original World Trade Center.

The pope will skip the rooms that recount the day and enter the historical exhibition space in the room that houses artifacts from the aftermath.

The dominant object is the World Trade Center Cross, steel wreckage in the shape of a cross excavated from World Trade Center 6 that became a focal point for recovery workers, and where a Franciscan priest offered Mass every Sunday on West Street in front of the cross during recovery work on the pile. A piece of aluminum duct work sits atop the cross like a shroud.

"This is bound to be the most iconic of the artifacts the pontiff will want to see," Ramirez said.

Here is the full transcript, as translated by the Holy See, of Pope Francis' remarks inside the 9/11 Museum:

Dear Friends,

I feel many different emotions standing here at Ground Zero, where thousands of lives were taken in a senseless act of destruction. Here grief is palpable. The water we see flowing towards that empty pit reminds us of all those lives which fell prey to those who think that destruction, tearing down, is the only way to settle conflicts. It is the silent cry of those who were victims of a mindset which knows only violence, hatred and revenge. A mindset which can only cause pain, suffering, destruction and tears.

The flowing water is also a symbol of our tears. Tears at so much devastation and ruin, past and present. This is a place where we shed tears, 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.

A few moments ago I met some of the families of the fallen first responders. Meeting them made me see once again how acts of destruction are never impersonal, abstract or merely material. They always have a face, a concrete story, names. In those family members, we see the face of pain, a pain which still touches us and cries out to heaven.