9/11: Good Morning America Spotlights Saint Nicholas Church

ABC’s Good Morning America has featured New York’s Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine in a special report on occasion of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, highlighting the church’s destruction, rebuilding and enduring role as a symbol of faith, remembrance and hope.

Rising above Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, the church’s glowing marble dome has become a distinctive part of the New York skyline. Twenty-five years ago, however, the original Saint Nicholas Church stood as a small Greek Orthodox parish in the shadow of the Twin Towers before it was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.

It was the only house of worship lost that day.

In its feature, “The rebuilding of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church” Good Morning America revisited the church’s history and spoke about its significance to the people who worked around the World Trade Center, including those who would regularly enter the church to pray, light a candle and then return to work.

Saint Nicholas was established in 1916 by Greek immigrants who had arrived in America through Ellis Island. They created the church as an expression of gratitude for their safe journey and dedicated it to Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of travellers and seafarers.

The original church was small, but its location gave it a significance far beyond its size.

Father Andreas Vithoulkas, who first visited Saint Nicholas as a child and later returned as its priest, told Good Morning America that he was in New York on September 11, 2001. He said the experience ultimately influenced his decision to enter the priesthood.

Years later, his return to Saint Nicholas gave him a sense of closure while also allowing him to help others who had experienced the tragedy.

The ABC report revisited photographs showing the church shortly after the attacks. When the South Tower collapsed, debris fell onto Saint Nicholas and completely destroyed the building.

Fortunately, no one was inside at the time.

Father John Romas, the church’s longtime priest, helped keep the displaced congregation together and led the effort to rebuild. He died in 2016, before seeing the project completed.

Only a handful of items survived the destruction, including the church bell, which had once called the faithful to prayer before falling silent on September 11.

The rebuilding effort faced legal disputes, funding problems and construction delays and took more than two decades to complete. The new Saint Nicholas Church finally reopened in 2022.

The rebuilt church also carries a strong connection to Greece. Its marble came from Greece and shares the same type of material used to build the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens.

The translucent marble allows light to enter the church and shine outward, giving the building the appearance of a glowing candle at night.

The memory of September 11 is also woven into the church’s sacred art. One section honours the first responders who lost their lives, including members of the FDNY and NYPD, a chaplain and the men and women who entered the burning towers to rescue others.

For those connected to Saint Nicholas, the rebuilt church represents more than the return of a place of worship.

Its reopening gave people a place to return, remember and find a sense of peace after the tragedy.

As darkness falls over Lower Manhattan, the church illuminates from within, creating what Father Vithoulkas described as a beacon of light and hope.

In its 9/11 anniversary feature, Good Morning America presents Saint Nicholas as a lasting symbol of resilience — preserving the memory of those lost while reflecting the faith and determination of the Greek-American community that rebuilt it at the heart of Ground Zero.

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