New York, November 3, 2021
Photo: goarch.org
Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, together with the hierarchs of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, celebrated the official Opening of the Doors Ceremony of the Church of St. Nicholas and National Shrine at Ground Zero in New York City yesterday.
The ceremony comes after a decade of work building a church on the site of the tragic 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. The previous St. Nicholas Church was destroyed by falling rubble, and in 2010, Church leaders reached an agreement to build a new church at the site.
The Patriarch blessed the shrine and participated in the elevation of the cross atop its dome, reports the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese.
He also presented a piece of the hand of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker as a gift to the new church.
The ceremony coincides with Patriarch Bartholomew’s 30th anniversary as primate of Constantinople and the 100th anniversary of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and the Archdiocese looks forward to the full opening of the rebuilt church next April.
During the ceremony, Pat. Bartholomew offered a speech, emphasizing the why the church and shrine were built:
We have come to this place to open Doors on Greek Orthodoxy to the American Consciousness of what the best in religion can be.
We have come to this place to open Doors on the Ecumenical Patriarchate, its history, tradition, and spiritual mission.
We have come to this place to open Doors on the story of the Immigrants who came to these shores in the shadow of Lady Liberty, searching for a new life and new opportunities.
We have come to this place to open Doors to promote inclusion, tolerance, and mutual understanding among all peoples of faith and good will.
We have come to this place to open Doors of Saint Nicholas the patron of all sojourners – from those who died on 9/11, to those who mourn their loss, to the pilgrims who will enter this National Shrine.
Further:
Today, the Cross of our Lord reminds each and every one of us that through death, He has conquered death. And the resurrection of the Saint Nicholas Church as this Shrine for the Nation is an affirmation of our Hope of the Resurrection and life Eternal through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr
In his own address, Archbishop Elpidophoros focused on the presence of Pat. Bartholomew at the ceremony:
Today, on the thirtieth anniversary of the enthronement of His All-Holiness as the longest-serving Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch in history, we receive the great grace and blessing of his paternal and Patriarchal love in this special opening of the doors of our National Shrine.
His All-Holiness, as the global Patron of Orthodoxy, brings to us the gift of Saint Nicholas himself, who is the Heavenly Patron of this Shrine. The venerable presence of the Ecumenical Patriarch bestows an added ecumenicity to the mission of the Shrine, as well as a dimension of interreligious and intercultural values that comprise the vision and love of His All-Holiness for all humankind.
The church was illuminated for the first time in September of this year in honor of the 9/11 victims.
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