What About the Ground Zero Church? Archdiocese Says Officials Abandoned Project

Someone told me that Rush Limbaugh also mentioned it today. Maybe building the Church will get traction now.

Source: Fox News HT: Michael Bauman

st-nicholas-church — St. Nicholas Church

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America accused New York officials on Tuesday of turning their backs on the reconstruction of the only church destroyed in the Sept. 11 attacks, while the controversial mosque near Ground Zero moves forward.

The sidelined project is the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, a tiny, four-story building destroyed in 2001 when one of the World Trade Center towers fell on top of it. Nobody from the church was hurt in the attack, but the congregation has for the past eight years been trying to rebuild its house of worship.

While the mosque project cleared red tape earlier this month, negotiations between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the church stalled last year — and will not be revived, according to government officials. Though the particulars of the two projects are completely different and on the surface unrelated, the church and its supporters see a disconnect in the way the proposals have been handled.

An archdiocese official said Tuesday that the situation has created “consternation” for those still struggling to jump-start talks over the church.

Read the entire article on the Fox News website.

Posted

August 17, 2010

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Fr. Johannes Jacobse

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9 responses to “What About the Ground Zero Church? Archdiocese Says Officials Abandoned Project”

Andrew

August 17, 2010

I am happy to see that there is some recognition of this issue on the part of the GOA. Fr. Karloutsos deserves a nod for jumping in the fray here.

However, I do have to wonder what is the official position of the EP on this issue? I also have to wonder why the Archons are on the sidelines in this debate. Additionally, we also have to wonder why Bishop Savas and the Office of Church and Society is silent.

I can’t help but wonder if all the EP and GOA shenanigans in the past from Coddling Castro to global Warming to the presentation of the Koran to the Coca Cola CEO have diminished the ability of both the EP and the GOA to enter the public square and be effective.

Lets be honest if the EP wants to lead the Church in America, the issue of St. Nicholas the Ground Zero mosque is a great opportunity to show some leadership on behalf of Americans.

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Nick Katich

August 18, 2010

Rush Limbaugh has devoted two days, Monday and Tuesday, to talk about St. Nicholas. He spoke at length on both days in each hourly segment of his three hour show. It has also been mentioned by Hannity and by Tony Blankley and in Chicago by Don Wade.

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Harry Coin

August 18, 2010

This discussion led me to recall the account the ‘old timers’ related to me about President Harry Truman, quite displeased that the Turkish government was reluctant to accept the return from travels abroad of the ‘Greek Ecumenical Patriarch’ — put him on Air Force One and told Air Force One to fly him home to Istanbul.

Now we see President Obama giving the green light to a mosque to be built by Saudi money replacing a building destroyed by terrorist attack debris while the only church flattened by that same attack has been stalled 8 years by a church group which in the intervening time has become ‘owned’ by a Greek ethnic Turkish minority.

Quite the conversation piece as family and friends of those murdered by the terrorists walk by on their way to the 9-11 memorial. Certain to foster good will and better relations.

Harry Truman, where are you??? What happened to your Democratic Party???

Reply
George Michalopulos

August 18, 2010

Harry, as the late, great Ronald Reagan said: “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me.”

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Fr. John

August 18, 2010

Bravo, Fr. Hans! It sure distresses me that the moderates have abandoned this topic to the extremists, giving further credibility to charges that only the radically intolerant right are paranoid or demagogic enough to try to capitalize on the issue. I am of moderate political stance and have not drunk of the TEA; yet I fully oppose the Cordoba Initiative and decry the silence of the GOARCH regarding St. Nicholas church. I will always attempt to speak of this issue in such a way that it is not conflated with other agendas.
We must be certain not to assist in ongoing the division of our country and church community through our method of attacking this issue. We have to speak clearly about what Islam has always promised to do, as opposed to what the Church has always been working toward, besides what the American Constitution has been trying to defend.
It’s not hard for Orthodox to be loyal citizens, it’s always been our stance toward secular power. Many Muslims are good Americans, but their minority status necessitates that stance and their leaders chafe already. It’s our duty to spread the unique experience of Eastern Orthodox communities confronting Islam over the centuries in a clear and historically verifiable way to the secular amnesiac culture we sojourn in. Let’s get to work. Repost, collate, make links. Make sure the alliance is broad-based and not narrowly partisan, nor rebel-rousing. We are men in service of Christ first, and we have to think of the well-being of the whole community in our care, which consists of people of widely varying political stripe.

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Andrew

August 18, 2010

I noticed on the GOA website that they posted a link to the fox news coverage of St. Nicholas Church. However, I would like to point out the release makes use of a certain sense of ambiguity by using the phrase Greek Archdiocese. We still do not know the thoughts of the EP, Archbishop or any Metropolitan on this issue. It seems cloaked to avoid conflict.

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cynthia curran

August 18, 2010

Love Harry Truman along with Dwight Eisenhower, they were the last presidents that wanted to deal honesty with illegal immirgation, another topic. But I feel that the Eastern Orthodox heriarchy wants to appeal politcally correct and will not take a stand for St. Nicholas. Also, their are many moderates that also don’t like the mosque decision.as well as even some of liberal politcal views that don’t like what a certain group of moslems did.

Reply
1. George Michalopulos
  
  August 20, 2010
  
  Cynthia, you’ve hit upon a nerve: the Ground Zero Mosque is right now the other side of the illegal immigration coin. Both deal with the importation of Third World values into our nation. And both are done by our secular elites to destroy the native Christian culture.
  
  Reply
Fr Gregory Jensen

August 19, 2010

I posted this on my blog. I would welcome your thoughts either here or there.

The Ground Zero Church/Mosque controversy has not been at the center of my attention. Shame on me maybe but there you go.

Let me make a pastoral suggestion…

Let the mosque be built where ever the Muslim community can purchase land; it is their right under the Constitution. It is also the right of those who disagree to move first and buy up the desired land or to outbid the Muslims who wish to build a mosque.

Alternative, let the mosque and let us, all the Orthodox Christian jurisdictions in America, re-build St Nicholas not in its former spot but across the street from the main entrance to the new mosque. And let us have services in St Nicholas–Vespers, Matins and the Divine Liturgy–everyday. Let St Nicholas become the “mother parish” of the American Orthodox Church with all the various jurisdiction committing themselves to making sure the church is always open and that in addition to the services it is staffed with men and women knowledgeable about Islam.

And let these men and women have a charge from ALL the bishops to evangelize the Muslims at this new mosque.

Just one priest’s idea but what do I know.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

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What About the Ground Zero Church? Archdiocese Says Officials Abandoned Project

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9 responses to “What About the Ground Zero Church? Archdiocese Says Officials Abandoned Project”

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