New York, July 5, 2022
Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr
After more than a decade of work, the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at Ground Zero was consecrated yesterday.
The previous St. Nicholas Church was destroyed by falling rubble on 9/11, and in 2010, Church leaders reached an agreement to build a new church at the site. Patriarch Bartholomew officially opened the church during a visit to the U.S. in November.
The new church is envisioned as “a place for everyone who comes to the Sacred Ground at the World Trade Center to imagine and envision a world where mercy is inevitable, reconciliation is desirable and forgiveness is possible,” according to Archbishop Elpidophoros, the head of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr
The consecration was celebrated by Abp. Elpidophoros, Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit, and Metropolitan Savas of Pittsburgh. The consecrated altar was also signed by all the GOARCH hierarchs who were present, the two living former Archbishops of America Spyridon and Demetrios, Protopresbyter Alexander Karloutsos, and Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon and Metropolitan Prodromos of Rethymnon (Crete), who were representing the Patriarchate of Constantinople, reports the site of GOARCH’s 46th Biennial Clergy-Laity Congress.
Relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker were sealed in the altar during the Liturgy and consecration service. Abp. Elpidophoros spoke about how the relics are now connected with the “modern martyrs” who perished on 9/11:
Today, these holy and precious remains of a saint—whose own history stretches back across the millennia and across the ocean, to Asia Minor and the glory of Byzantium that lives on in our Ecumenical Patriarchate—are joined to the history of those for whom the World Trade Center was their tomb. These modern martyrs—slain by unjust hatred—were denied even the chance of burial. And so, with today’s Consecration, Ground Zero remains forever sacred ground—a place of remembrance, a place of reconciliation, a place of forgiveness and a place of love.
The Archbishop continued to explain the purpose of the new church:
It is my solemn pledge that we will offer the very best of our Orthodox faith—a faith that encompasses the world and is led by the greatest leader we have known in centuries:
His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the longest serving Patriarch in history, upon the See of the First-Called Apostle Andrew.
Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr
He also explains that the church was consecrated precisely on the Fourth of July to emphasize the freedom to choose one’s own religion:
We chose the Fourth of July for this Consecration for a very special reason. We chose it precisely because this quintessential American Holiday represents what is best in our liberty—that is, freedom of conscience and the freedom to worship as we best determine for ourselves and for our families.
Indeed, this is the beauty of America, and it will be the beauty of the St. Nicholas National Shrine, too. For, although it is a Greek Orthodox house of worship, we welcome all. We invite all. We accept all. And we practice love of others; not prejudice; not rejection; and certainly not hatred.
This shrine will be a place for everyone who comes to the Sacred Ground at the World Trade Center to imagine and envision a world where mercy is inevitable, reconciliation is desirable, and forgiveness is possible.
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