The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, on Sunday 3 February visited an Anglican chapel at "Ground Zero" in New York that became a focal point for emergency operations following the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11.

St Paul's Chapel, which adjoins the site of the disaster, has served as a centre for relief operations, offering support to thousands of emergency workers and volunteers. Dr Carey, accompanied by his wife Eileen, shared breakfast with some of the men and women involved in the rescue and continuing recovery operation. The Chapel has become an informal shrine and place of pilgrimage for visitors wanting to honour those caught up in the tragedy of last September.

In a sermon preached later at the nearby Trinity Church, Wall Street, Dr Carey highlighted both the heroism and the fear aroused by those events.

"I am sure those of you who were so close to the terrible events of September 11, in this Church and elsewhere, still remember how the shock of it all tested your faith," he said.

"I have been struck by many tales of great bravery, defiant optimism and outstanding courage. But I suspect that each hero felt at critical moments very vulnerable and very scared."

Dr Carey set those emotions within the context of a continuing spiritual journey: "That uncertainty is entirely understandable, because walking in faith clearly suggests that we have not arrived at our destination; walking in faith implies that we still have much to learn, more growing to do."

Earlier, Dr Carey joined seven other senior spiritual leaders - Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu - for a ceremony at "Ground Zero", during which prayers were said from a number of religious traditions as well as the twenty-third Psalm, which includes the words: Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

Dr Carey was attending the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in New York, in which the role of religion and faith communities in the twenty-first century is a prominent theme.