The appearance of a paid advertisement in the National Herald not a few days ago, with a long list of παράπονα (complaints) against our Archdiocese and the St. Nicholas National Shrine in particular, should give us all pause as we try to move forward as a Church. And this pause is to observe that there will always be naysayers – those whose negativity (legitimate or not) – who are unwilling or unable to move beyond their personal preferences and disappointments. As has been said by many, “Everybody’s a critic!” It’s a free country and everyone has a right to complain. And because of the free flow of information everywhere on the Internet, one grudge spawns many. So be it. But there are many more of us who want to do something constructive with our energy, words and thoughts.
What should give all of us further pause is how our Archdiocese has corrected the abuses of the past. How the Ecumenical Patriarchate has bestowed a young, dynamic, and resolutely competent leader on us, Archbishop Elpidophoros. And how we have pulled together to re-commence the construction of this National Shrine, an architectural wonder, and a labor of love for the memory of all who perished and suffered, and the good people who continue to mourn the horrific loss of 9/11.
As a community, we should be proud that St. Nicholas has been designed by a world-class architect, Santiago Calatrava, whose World Trade Center Transportation Hub (the Oculus) is truly a marvel to behold. Let us remember that we are not merely re-building the precious St. Nicholas Church destroyed on 9/11. We are building a national monument of international significance. We are building an edifice, and island of stone and marble in the midst of a sea of glass and steel. We are building a National Shrine that will be a House of Prayer for all people.
So when we face the inevitable difficulties of any great project, let us remember as well that even Pericles had his critics when he was building the Parthenon, as Plutarch reminds us in his “Life of Pericles” (12:1):
But that which brought most delightful adornment to Athens, and the greatest amazement to the rest of mankind; that which alone now testifies for Hellas that her ancient power and splendor, of which so much is told, was no idle fiction, I mean his construction of sacred edifices, this, more than all the public measures of Pericles, his enemies maligned and slandered.
St. Nicholas is our American Parthenon, and indeed our Hagia Sophia, where the witness of our Greek Orthodox Christian Faith will shine forth for all to behold, and within which, all to find comfort, solace, strength and understanding.
So to our critics we say, put aside your personal fears and failures and join us in something positive, powerful, and purposeful. St. Nicholas will be built. It will minister to our Nation and to the World. And its message will be of the hope, faith, and love that always endure, of the Light of Resurrection that can never be extinguished, and the testimony of a people, yes – the Greek Orthodox People of America, who will always overcome every adversity and achieve their dreams.
*The Rev. Father Alexander Karloutsos, Vicar General of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
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