On April 18, 2025, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America participated in an ecumenical “Way of the Cross over the Brooklyn Bridge” alongside Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, and Robert J. Brennan, Bishop of Brooklyn.
Beginning at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint James, the first Catholic Church on Long Island, the clergy and faithful gathered for a prayer service before processing across the Brooklyn Bridge and to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine for another prayer service.
The basilica’s choir sang several hymns, including “We Also Ought,” “Zawitaj Pani Swiata,” and “I See His Blood Upon the Rose,” and speakers offered readings from the Gospels, Pope Francis’s writings, and other texts.
Welcomed to the basilica by Cardinal Dolan and Bishop Brennan, in his reflection at the former service, Archbishop Elpidophoros reflected on 2025’s 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, which established a single date of Easter for all Christians.
His Eminence remarked:
“As I consider the possibility of fulfilling the promise of Nicaea, and sharing once again a common date for Pascha among all Christians, it occurs to me that our choice of walking together with the Cross of the Lord is the best preparation to do so. For real ecumenical work is to be discovered through the same sacrificial love that our Lord manifested on the Cross.
We all have to give up something of ourselves – whether it is pride of place, or our own sense of righteousness – but something must be sacrificed for the sake of the other. That is why our procession together across the Brooklyn Bridge is such a poignant symbol for our ecumenical striving. In a very concrete way, East and West must move toward each other, and find the bridge that will bring them to common ground.”
After the first portion of the event was complete, Bishop Brennan led the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic parishioners across the Brooklyn Bridge and to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine, where the procession was welcomed by Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos and Fr. Andreas Vithoulkas.
Master Chanter Dimitrios Katsiklis chanted the Lamentations before the Holy Sepulcher, and the choir performed several additional hymns. The event closed with remarks and a dismissal from Bishop Brennan.
Photos: Orthodox Observer/Dimitrios Panagos and Courtesy of Jillian Nelson
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