c. 2008 Religion News Service

Orthodox church destroyed on 9/11 signs deal to rebuild

(RNS) A New York City Greek Orthodox church destroyed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks will be rebuilt down the street from Ground Zero, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced on Thursday (July 24).

St. Nicholas Church will receive $20 million to rebuild less than a block away from the site where it stood for 85 years. The tentative agreement was the result of negotiations between representatives from St. Nicholas and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, the Port Authority, and city and state agencies.

“(The move) represents the Port Authority’s firm resolve to do what is necessary to advance the rebuilding process as quickly as possible,” Port Authority chairman Anthony R. Coscia said in a statement.

Founded by Greek immigrants in 1916, St. Nicholas housed a collection of icons donated by Czar Nicholas II of Russia, and contained relics from three Greek Orthodox saints. All but a few items from the church’s collection were destroyed when the World Trade Center towers collapsed.

A spokesman for the Port Authority said that talks, which have been ongoing since 2001, picked up after the World Trade Center Assessment Report was released three weeks ago. The report, commissioned by New York Gov. David A. Paterson, listed St. Nicholas as one of 15 key issues to be resolved in the rebuilding effort.

Under the new plan, St. Nicholas will be rebuilt atop the Vehicle Security Center, the entrance point to a new underground parking garage.

“We’re excited about where we are at this point, recognizing that there’s still a long road ahead of us before the day that St. Nicholas opens it’s doors again,” said Peter Drakoulias, a board member of the church.

Since 2001, the church’s congregation has scattered across the city. The Rev. John Romas, who served at St. Nicholas, now serves at Sts. Constantine & Helen Cathedral in Brooklyn, where many of his roughly 100 parishioners have found a temporary home.

_ Tim Murphy

New prayers at Mass OK’d by Vatican

(RNS) The Vatican has approved a new English translation of the Order of Mass, clearing the way for significant changes to the familiar prayers spoken by a generation of American Catholics.

Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, said he does not expect the changes to be “put into use immediately.”

The Vatican wants to allow time for priests and deacons to prepare lay Catholics and musicians for the changes, which are binding on all U.S. parishes, Arinze said.

Earlier this month, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops rejected a different section of newly translated Mass prayers, saying they were difficult to understand and pronounce. A number of bishops had also criticized the section just approved by the Vatican, to little avail.

Catholic officials say it will likely be several years before the new translations reach churches in the U.S., as 10 more sections of the Roman Missal _ the text that guides the Mass _ have yet to be approved.

The Order of Mass comprises the largest, and perhaps most familiar chunk of the missal, including prayers and responses spoken by U.S. Catholics for more than 30 years.

For example, the people’s prayer “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you,” will change to “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.”

Pope John Paul II ordered the new translations to encourage greater fidelity to the original Latin of the Roman Missal. Translations into local languages after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s were too hastily and sloppily produced, according to the late pope.

_ Daniel Burke

Colo. college wins fight over state scholarships

(RNS) A Christian college in Colorado that requires students to attend chapel, and staff to affirm that the Bible is “infallible,” should be allowed to receive state scholarship funds, a federal appeals courts has ruled.

The ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver overturns a 2007 lower court decision that found Colorado Christian University “pervasively sectarian,” and thus ineligible for public money.

Staff at the college, based near Denver, are required to sign a statement professing that the Bible is authoritative and infallible; students are expected to attend chapel and lead ministries.

But Colorado policies barring some religious colleges from receiving state funds violates the Constitution, the 10th circuit ruled. Colorado allows students at Catholic and Methodist colleges to receive public scholarships.

“The First Amendment does not permit government officials to sit as judges of the indoctrination quotient of theology classes,” wrote circuit Judge Michael McConnell.

_ Daniel Burke

Pope meets Iraqi P.M.

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI met Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at his summer residence outside Rome on Friday (July 25) for talks focusing on the ongoing violence in Iraq and the impact of the bloodshed on its Christian minority.

The pope said violence “continues to strike various parts of the country almost daily, without sparing Christian communities who strongly feel the need for greater security,” the Vatican press office said. Hundreds and thousands of Christians have been forced to flee the country because of violence and the economic crisis caused by the war.

Benedict voiced the hope that “Iraq may rediscover the path of peace and development as well as collaboration between all ethnic and religious groups … to achieve the moral and civic reconstruction of the country.”

The pope has frequently appealed for a halt to the violence in Iraq and condemned the kidnapping and killing last February of the Chaldean archbishop of Mosul.

In response, the Iraqi premier pledged to protect the Christian community in Iraq, said Iraq’s ambassador to the Holy See, Albert Edward Ismail Yelda, according to the ANSA news agency.

The government was already at work to “facilitate the return of Christians who have fled violence and persecution” and would ensure Christians’ property was given back to them, the Shiite premier reportedly told the pontiff.

“In the talks, Maliki said all the Christians that live in the Middle East must be able to live with Muslims peacefully,” Yelda said. Maliki also renewed an invitation to the 81 year old pontiff to visit his country.

During the 20-minute meeting, no reference was made to Tariq Aziz, Saddam Hussein’s former top deputy and a Chaldean Christian at risk of the death penalty, Yelda said. Italy’s Radical Party has launched an international appeal to save his life.

Before the audience, Maliki conferred with Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone and the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, Dominique Mamberti, for about 45 minutes.

_ Frances Kennedy

Quote of the Day: Cardinal Ivan Dias

(RNS) “When we live myopically in the fleeting present, oblivious of our past heritage and apostolic traditions, we could well be suffering from spiritual Alzheimer’s. And when we behave in a disorderly manner, going whimsically our own way without any coordination with the head or other members of our community, it could be ecclesial Parkinson’s.”

_ Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, addressing Anglican bishops at the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, England. The Vatican has looked askance at developments in the Anglican Communion, especially the consecration of women bishops.

KRE/RB END RNS