The new St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at the grounds of the World Trade Center, building on left. PHOTO BY TODD MAISEL
Governor Cuomo, Port Authority celebrate
Greek Orthodox rebuilt from 9/11 devastation
BY MARK HALLUM
It’s been almost 19 years since
the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox
Church was destroyed
alongside the rubble of the Twin
Towers on 9/11, but now offi cials
and clergy are celebrating the
near-completion of a new house
of worship where the old one
stood.
Archbishop Elpidophoros of
America hopes that the rebuilding
of the new St. Nicholas National
Shrine is is a signifi cant moment
in the history of the attacks.
“Ten days ago only, the greatest
church ever built, not the very
largest. but indeed the greatest by
far… was taken away from the
world in an act of domination and
chauvinism,” Elpidophoros said
during an Aug. 3 dedication ceremony.
“Nearly 20 years ago, our
St. Nicholas fell with thousands of
our fellow human beings, lost in
the ashes of 9/11 and numerous
other wounded in body and soul
by a savage act hatred and terror.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo and
the Port Authority of New York
and New Jersey offi cials dedicated
the shrine on Monday morning
A rendering of the completed church.
with construction workers lining
the rooftop of the church and its
unfi nished dome.
According to Cuomo, 9/11 may
have toppled the old shrine but it
was an opportunity for to “build
back better.”
According to PANYNJ
officials, construction on the
shrine will be completed in time
for Sept. 11, 2021 — the 20th
anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The archbishop remembered
the horrors of the terrorist attacks
that killed 3,000 people while
also comparing the rise of the new
St. Nicholas shrine to the Hagia
Sophia in Istanbul, the former
Byzantine basilica that will soon
be converted into a mosque once
again.
The Hagia Sophia became a
mosque after the city was conquered
by the Ottoman Turks, but
in 1934, after Turkey’s government
had secularized, it became a
museum. The United Nations and
others have spoken out against
Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s decision to put the
1,500 structure back into service
as a mosque, citing its status as a
meeting place of cultures.
4 August 6, 2020 Schneps Media