14 SEPTEMBER 20, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Coptic Orthodox Pope consecrates Ridgewood church
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
The parishioners of St. Mary &
St. Antonios Coptic Orthodox
Church in Ridgewood treated
Sept. 14 as if it were a holiday, taking
the day off from work to witness the
arrival of their holiest fi gure.
On the second day of a weeks-long
trip to the U.S., Pope Tawadros II,
leader of the Coptic Orthodox faith —
a denomination of Christianity based
in Egypt — offi cially consecrated the
church on 60th Place, the oldest such
parish in all of Queens.
The previous day, a delegation from
the Egyptian Consulate greeted the
Pope at JFK Airport before he spoke
to nearly 200 priests at the Coptic Orthodox
Archdiocese of North America
in Cedar Grove, New Jersey.
According to Father Antony Andrews,
an assistant priest for the
parish who spoke to the Ridgewood
Times on Sept. 17, the church was “fully
packed” with parishioners anxiously
awaiting the Pope’s arrival.
“There were tears of joy for some
people,” Andrews said. “Being part of
such an important event in the history
of the parish made so many people feel
good that day.”
A video posted on the church’s
Facebook page showed that as the
Pope walked into the church and
down its center aisle, many parishioners
reached out to gently touch His
Holiness. Andrews described the Pope
as “very warm, very gentle and very
loving,” and explained that he took the
time to greet all the parishioners and
even take pictures with them aft er the
ceremony.
The Pope’s message to the priests
and parishioners was that the Coptic
Orthodox faith has a purpose here in
People prepared for the arrival of Pope Tawadros II at St. Mary & St. Antonios Coptic Orthodox Church in
Ridgewood on Sept. 14.
America, according to the account of
Father Michael Sorial, a priest from
New Jersey. At the same time, the Pope
also spoke about his love for Egypt and
explained that all must remember
where they came from while continuing
their mission here.
For one parishioner, Veronica
Nashed Ghaly, that message rang
true. She explained that the ongoing
confl icts and political unrest in Egypt
have deterred many of her Egyptian
American friends from visiting
the country out of fear. While it was
“a blessing and an honor” to have the
Pope come visit, he wants “his children
to come back” and visit as well,
Nashed said.
“He may be the Pope, but from what
I remember he is the most down-toearth
person I have ever met,” said
Nashed, who met the Pope years ago
Photo via Twitter/@NYPD104pct
when she visited St. Mark’s Cathedral
in Cairo, Egypt. “You can talk to him
as if he’s your best friend or someone
you’ve known for years.”
The Ridgewood sect of the Coptic Orthodox
Church was founded in 1973 by
Father Yohanna Guirgis, who passed
away in May. Nashed is currently
leading an eff ort to co-name the street
corner at Woodward Avenue and
Grove Street in honor of the late priest.
Remembering the fallen in Glendale
Days aft er the nation marked
the 17th anniversary of the
Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks,
residents gathered at Dry Harbor
Playground in Glendale on Sept. 16
for a memorial ceremony honoring
those lost on that day of infamy. The
program included a reading of the
names of 42 Glendale, Middle Village
and Woodhaven residents who
perished in the attacks on the World
Trade Center. Local elected offi cials,
including Queens Borough President
Melinda Katz, Congresswoman Grace
Meng, Assemblyman Mike Miller
and City Councilman Robert Holden
also off ered remarks.
Photos via Facebook
Congresswoman Grace Meng and the 104th Precinct Civilian Observation Patrol
link
