Church site near ground zero blessed

NEW YORK – Hundreds of members of New York’s Greek Orthodox community attended a blessing ceremony Saturday for a new church near ground zero in Lower Manhattan that will replace a house of worship destroyed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

In his remarks at the construction site, the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in America recalled his dismay when, on Sept. 12, 2001, he and other pastors visited the spot where St. Nicholas church had stood since the early 20th century. The tiny structure had been crushed in the collapse of the twin towers, making it the only church destroyed in the attack.

“We stood there frozen, paralyzed,” Archbishop Demetrios said.

More than 13 years later, work has begun on a much larger, $38 million domed church intended to serve both as the new home for the Greek Othodox parish and as a national non-denominational shrine for ground zero visitors.

“It will be a refuge for people in need of spiritual comfort regardless of their specific beliefs, or unbeliefs,” the archbishop said. “Above all, this resurrected St. Nicholas church will be a monument declaring the victory of good over evil, of love over hatred.”