New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (pictured) has decided there will be no clergy presence at the upcoming ceremony observing the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center. “City Hall officials, who are coordinating the ceremony, confirmed that spiritual leaders will not participate this year — just as has been the case during past events marking the anniversary,” reported the Wall Street Journal. “The mayor has said he wants the upcoming event to strike a similar tone as previous ceremonies.”

Evelyn Erskine, a spokeswoman for the Mayor, told CNN that the ceremony “was designed in coordination with 9-11 families with a mixture of readings that are spiritual, historical, and personal in nature.” She added that “rather than have disagreements over which religious leaders participate, we would like to keep the focus of our commemoration ceremony on the family members of those who died.”

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Photo: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg