US House Speaker Visits Greek Cathedral At Ground Zero In New York - Statement

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy became the first senior government official to visit the Greek Orthodox cathedral rebuilt at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City in commemoration of the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the St. Nicholas church said in a statement on Tuesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th June, 2023) US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy became the first senior government official to visit the Greek Orthodox cathedral rebuilt at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City in commemoration of the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the St. Nicholas church said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, made a historic visit to the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at the World Trade Center in New York," the statement said.

During the visit, which took place on Monday, McCarthy was given a tour of the church, the statement said.

"The St. Nicholas National Shrine is a cenotaph that honors the memory of the 3,000 people who tragically lost their lives on September 11th, 2001, and stands as an eternal witness to the lives lost and a reminder of where and how they perished," the statement said.

On September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda (banned in Russia) terrorists crashed two hijacked commercial planes into the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York, while another one hit the Pentagon near Washington. A fourth hijacked plane fell down in the state of Pennsylvania.

The St. Nicholas church was completely buried after the World Trade Center's south tower collapsed following the terrorist attack. The church opened for service in December 2022 after a two-decades-long reconstruction.