Today, on September 11, Archbishop Elpidophoros will be joined by family members of Orthodox Christians who perished on 9/11 for a Memorial Service in front of the Saint Nicholas National Shrine at 12:00 noon.
Today marks 19 years since the terrorist attacks on the “Twin Towers” in New York.
On Liberty Street, opposite the south tower of the World Trade Center, was the Greek Orthodox Shrine of Saint Nicholas. It was the only religious site destroyed by the 9/11 attacks.
It is noted that the reconstruction of the Temple at “Ground Zero” has already begun and the personal commitment of the Archbishop Elpidophoros is that its doors will open by September 2021, when it will mark 20 years since the day of the terrorist attacks.
Also, the 45th Clergy-Laity Congress, a first-ever virtual event concluded today after a successful Plenary Session. All necessary resolutions for the proper operation and administration of the Archdiocese were effected in an atmosphere of professionalism and Christian brotherhood.
In his Opening Remarks to the Plenary Session, Archbishop Elpidophoros offered the following remarks:
“At this 45th Clergy-Laity Congress, let us commit to our God and to one another that we will embrace our high calling in Christ. Let us ‘lift up our eyes unto the hills from whence our help comes.’ Let us pursue a course for our Church in America that gives back without ever giving up. That gives sacrificially. That gives because we have been so very blessed. I thank you all for your commitment to sacrifice and to service. May the Lord bless each of you, your families and Parishes, as we journey together in fellowship to the ever-growing Kingdom of God.”
The 45th Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Clergy-Laity Congress concluded with an Archiepiscopal Exhortation and final Blessing.