History

Saints Catherine and George Greek Orthodox Church of Astoria, New York is one of two parishes that together form the Hellenic Orthodox Community of Astoria, alongside the neighboring Saint Demetrios Cathedral. Its origins are inseparable from the broader story of Greek settlement in Astoria, one of the largest Greek communities in the Western world, whose history as a Greek Orthodox parish community stretches back to the founding of Saint Demetrios in the late 1920s.

As the Hellenic Orthodox Community of Astoria grew through the mid-twentieth century, the original Saint Demetrios church and its facilities were no longer sufficient to serve a rapidly expanding Greek population. World War II had ended, immigration was increasing, and the founding families had raised children who were raising children of their own. The community purchased a property at 33rd Street in 1968 for $150,000, and with the desire to build a new and beautiful structure, plans were drawn for what would become Saints Catherine and George Church. A committee was formed to raise the $1,093,000 needed for the neo-Byzantine, three-tiered structure. Groundbreaking took place on September 22, 1971, and the ceremonial opening of the doors followed, with the Consecration celebrated on October 26, 1975, both occasions presided over by Archbishop Iakovos.

Since 1975, Saints Catherine and George has served alongside Saint Demetrios Cathedral as a second house of worship for the Hellenic Orthodox Community of Astoria, providing the faithful of one of the most densely Greek neighborhoods in America with a church of their own on 33rd Street. The parish also operates an elementary school that has served the Greek-American children of Astoria for generations, one of the most tangible expressions of the community's commitment to transmitting its faith, language, and culture to the next generation.

Saints Catherine and George Greek Orthodox Church at 22-30 33rd Street in Astoria serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of Queens as a parish of the Direct Archdiocesan District of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, a community of faith at the heart of one of the most vibrant Greek Orthodox neighborhoods in the Americas.