As his Apostolic Visit to the United States continued, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on Friday, September 19, 2025, attended the Inaugural Beacon of Hope Dinner of Saint Nicholas Church and National Shrine at Casa Cipriani in New York City.
Present were His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, the Hierarchs of the Patriarchal delegation, and other Hierarchs, as well as the Spiritual Advisor of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Rev. Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne Alexander Karloutsos; Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis, National Commander of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; the Hon. B. Theodore Bozonelis, National Vice Commander of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; and numerous other Archons, including the Chairman of the Friends of Saint Nicholas, Archon Michael G. Psaros.
Also in attendance was the Hon. Jessica Tisch, Police Commissioner of New York City, and members of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
In his remarks, His All-Holiness said: “We rise this evening to pay tribute to the courageous men and women who braved to enter the fated Twin Towers – a place where Angels might have feared to tread – in order to save their fellow human beings, at the expense of their own lives. We are well-pleased that our humble person could be present and help to inaugurate what promises to be a most significant tradition of the Saint Nicholas National Shrine.”
Noting the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, “Greater love has no one than this, to sacrifice your life for your friends,” (John 15:13), the Ecumenical Patriarch drew a powerfully insightful comparison between those who gave their lives to save others on 9/11 and the sacrificial love of the martyr Church of Constantinople: “At the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, we understand the radiance that comes from self-sacrificing love. We reside in the portion of the City called the ‘Phanar,’ which means ‘Lighthouse.’ The sacrifice of many Martyrs and Saints emblazons the history of the Mother Church of Orthodox Christianity with signal fires to light our path into the future.”
In line with this, His All-Holiness stated: “We came to the Shrine yesterday, to connect both these beacons of light and hope – the Phanar and Ground Zero, by transplanting the very earth of our Old World, into the soil of this New World. And in this soil of the West we mingled soil from the East, from the lands and seas out of which emerged the Omogeneia of our People, scattered like good seed in a Diaspora of Divine Providence.”
The Ecumenical Patriarch continued: “We pray that the Saint Nicholas Shrine, in which prayer and memory endure, will always prosper its mission of bringing healing and consolation, tolerance and understanding, to this remarkable City, to this exceptional Nation, and to a world whose need for these very virtues and graces is greater than ever. We know that in these profound symbols, all of you will find strength to assist in that mission.”
