The American Hellenic Educational and Progressive Association (AHEPA), the nation’s largest organization representing Americans of Greek descent issued a stern statement regarding the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America’s handling of the St. Nicholas rebuilding project.
AHEPA had undertaken a nationwide fundraising campaign from its tens of thousands of members and chapters and has donated $1 million to the fundraising campaign, making the organization one of the largest single donors.
AHEPA issued the following statement on Thursday, December 14, 2017 regarding the rebuilding of Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at World Trade Center from Supreme President Carl R. Hollister:
“We are deeply disappointed that construction of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at World Trade Center has come to a halt and regret the inadequate transparency provided thus far about the project’s construction status.
“We have been in communication with His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios and members of the Archdiocesan Council to convey our concerns about Saint Nicholas. We encourage the Archdiocese to provide complete clarity to the community about the challenges the project faces and provide a comprehensive plan to move forward so that it may be completed in a timely fashion. This is not a time to lay blame. Rather, all stakeholders must come together to complete this most noble undertaking.
“Regarding our members, we value the countless hours of volunteer time, energy, and resources that helped to bring us to the cusp of AHEPA’s $1 million capital campaign fund drive goal. In addition, the AHEPA family, which includes the Daughters of Penelope, Sons of Pericles, and Maids of Athena, each have raised funds for Saint Nicholas. We have all our volunteer members’ interests at heart.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and remain in communication with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. We will proceed with the balance of our commitment at the appropriate time when our concerns are resolved.
“We remain supportive of the rebuilding of the only House of Worship destroyed on September 11, and we remain confident it will rise again and be a beacon for peace.”
*****
Since you’re here… I have a small favor to ask.
More and more people than ever before are reading The Pappas Post and despite increasing costs to maintain the site and provide you with the quality content that you deserve, I will never “force” you to pay for our website or add a paywall. I believe in the democracy of the internet and want to keep this site and its enriching content free for everyone. But at the same time I’m asking those who frequent the site to chip in and help keep it both high quality— and free. We’ve implemented a “free-will” annual subscription for those who want to support our efforts. I guess it’s fair to call it a philotimo subscription… because you don’t have to do it but it’s really the right thing to do if you love the site and the content we publish. So if you like The Pappas Post and want to help, please consider becoming a “philotimo subscriber”.Click here to subscribe. If you’d rather make a one time donation, we will gladly accept any amount, with appreciation. Click here to donate any amount.
1 comment
And this while the Archbishop continues to live in a multi-million dollar apartment on 86th and 5th Avenue supplied to him personally by a generous family. And he sold Iakovos’ residence that he gave to the Church!? Why does no one ever mention this???