Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, officially blessed the new St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine, and also blessed the few sacred relics saved from the original St. Nicholas Church on November 2, 2021.
The nearly completed shrine replaces the original St. Nicholas Church, which was crushed by the falling towers during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, reports WABC’s Eyewitness News.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was able to see the cross erected atop the marble dome of the shrine, and held a door-opening service, saying, “this sacred ground of the American experience is where the Orthodox Christian faith will take the lead in manifesting to the world that good is mightier than evil.”
