Bishop Andonios of Phasiane, chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, yesterday criticized the Port Authority as having "cut off all communications" with church officials over the rebuilding of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church that was severely damaged in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, according to an article in today's edition of The New York Times by Paul Vitello.

He expressed some discomfort, the article said, at stepping into the dispute on the side of those who are adamantly opposed to the Park 51 Islamic community center and mosque project proposed for a site nearby at 45 Park Place.

"'To us, this is an opportunity for everyone -- to see some progress in our negotiations with the Port Authority,' Bishop Andonios said. 'But also, for the people involved in the mosque, this controversy is their opportunity to dialogue with the community; to reach a better understanding of people's sensitivities, perhaps,'" the article continued.

"Unlike some religious leaders who have spoken in favor of the Muslim center, including the pastor of Trinity Wall Street, the historic Episcopal church near ground zero, Bishop Andonios said he and other Greek Orthodox leaders remained neutral," the article said.

"'It's unfortunate that it took a controversy over a mosque to bring attention to the church,' he said. He described that attention as 'a silver lining' of the increasingly bitter clash," according to the article.

The article said that Greek Orthodox church officials appeared at a news conference near the trade center site with "former Gov. George E. Pataki and a Greek-American Congressional candidate from Long Island - both opponents of the Islamic center - to make their case: Government officials who appear to be clearing the way for the center, which includes a mosque, are blocking the reconstruction of St. Nicholas Church, the only house of worship destroyed in the terrorist attacks."

"And though church officials did not go quite as far," the article continued, "Mr. Pataki and the candidate, George Demos, drew a sharp line between the rightness of the Greek Orthodox project and the wrongness of the Muslim one. Mr. Pataki cast doubt on the wisdom of city officials' allowing a community center and mosque near ground zero when 'we don't know the funding, we don't know the view of the people behind it.' By contrast, he said, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the trade center reconstruction site, had failed to 'reach out and engage in a dialogue' about rebuilding the church with Greek Orthodox officials, who, he suggested, were a known quantity.

The bishop said he did not intend the fan the dispute over the Islamic Center with his appearance: "We didn't want to say anything that might jeopardize the plans for rebuilding our church," he said in a telephone interview with The Times, adding "That is our No. 1 concern: building our church."

The article said that "Stephen Sigmund, a spokesman for the Port Authority, said there was never any doubt that the church would be rebuilt. In 2008, the authority agreed to accommodate a 24,000-square-foot church building just east of St. Nicholas's original location on Cedar Street, and promised $20 million to subsidize construction. But the following year, he said, final negotiations broke down over the precise siting and size of the building."

At one point, Merrill Lynch planned to occupy a new building that would have cantilevered over a rebuilt St. Nicholas Church but subsequently withdrew from that project.