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[[Image:Holy Trinity NYC.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, New York City]]
The '''Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America''', headquartered in New York City, is an [[eparchy]] of the [[Church of Constantinople]]. Its current primate is His Eminence Archbishop [[Demetrios Elpidophoros (TrakatellisLambriniadis) of America]].
== History ==
Before the establishment of a Greek Archdiocese in the Western Hemisphere there were numerous communities of Greek Orthodox Christians. The first Greek Orthodox community in the Americas was founded in New Orleans, Louisiana by a small colony of Greek merchants. History also records that on [[June 26]], 1768, the first Greek colonists landed at St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city in America. The first permanent community was founded in New York City in 1892, today’s Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and the See of the Archbishop of America. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America was incorporated in 1921 and officially recognized by the State of New York in 1922.
In 19081918, the [[Church of Greece]] received authority over the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese but . The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America was incorporated in 1921 and officially recognized by the State of New York in 1922. In 1922, Patriarch [[Meletius IV (Metaxakis) of Constantinople|Meletios Meletius IV]] transferred the archdiocese back to the jurisdiction of the [[Church of Constantinople]]. In 1996, the one Archdiocese was split by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, dividing the administration of the two continents into four parts (America, Canada, Central America, and South America) and leaving only the territory of the United States for the Archdiocese of America.
{{diocese|
type=Archdiocese|
founded=1921|
bishop=[[Demetrios Elpidophoros (TrakatellisLambriniadis) of America|Abp. DemetriosElpidophoros]]|
see=New York|
hq=New York, New York|
== Recent History ==
In recent years, there has been much tension between the Archdiocese and the current Ecumenical Patriarch, [[Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople|Bartholomew I]], especially regarding the level of autonomy the former has with regard to the latter. One of the important incidents in this ongoing tension was the allegedly forced retirement in 1996 of Archbishop [[Iakovos (Coucouzis) of America|Iakovos]] after his leadership during the [[Ligonier Meeting]] in 1994, where many of the Orthodox hierarchs in America came together to begin the formation of a unified Orthodox Church of America. Iakovos was replaced with Archbishop [[Spyridon (Papageorge) of America|Spyridon]], whose 'tempestuous' tenure as archbishop lasted only 3 years, seeing his allegedly forced retirement in 1999 and replacement by the current Archbishop, [[Demetrios (Trakatellis) of America|Demetrios(Trakatellis)]].
A strong movement of laity in the Archdiocese has been engaged in the tensions with Constantinople, as well, especially a particular group known as [[Orthodox Christian Laity]] (OCL), which includes some of the wealthiest members of the Archdiocese. In 2004, 35 plaintiffs unsuccessfully sued Archbishop [[Demetrios (Trakatellis) of America|Demetrios]] and the Greek Archdiocese in an attempt to force it to invalidate the 2003 charter granted by Constantinople; their lawsuit stated that the Greek hierarchy had imposed the rewritten charter without approval from delegates at the national Clergy-Laity Congress, violating the terms of the 1978 charter. The main aim of the suit was to attempt to gain more autonomy from the [[Church of Constantinople]], especially regarding the choice of the American Archdiocese's primate.
===Archdiocesan structure===
*[[Direct Archdiocesan District(GOA)|Archdiocesan District]]
*[[Metropolis of Atlanta]]
*[[Metropolis of Boston]]
*[[Metropolis of Chicago]]
*[[Metropolis of Denver]]
*[[Metropolis of Detroit]]
*[[Metropolis of New Jersey]]
*[[Metropolis of Pittsburgh]]
*[[Metropolis of San Francisco]]
== The Episcopacy ==
===Diocesan bishops===
* Archbishop [[Demetrios Elpidophoros (TrakatellisLambriniadis) of America|Demetrios Elpidophoros (TrakatellisLambriniadis)]] of America<!-- * Metropolitan [[Iakovos (Garmatis) of Chicago|Iakovos (Garmatis)]] of Chicago--->
* Metropolitan [[Methodios (Tournas) of Boston|Methodios (Tournas)]] of Boston
* Metropolitan [[Isaiah (Chronopoulos) of Denver|Isaiah (Chronopoulos)]] of Denver
* Metropolitan [[Alexios (Panagiotopoulos) of Atlanta|Alexios (Panagiotopoulos)]] of Atlanta
* Metropolitan [[Nicholas (Pissare) of Detroit|Nicholas (Pissare)]] of Detroit and Locum Tenens of Pittsburgh
* Metropolitan [[Evangelos (Kourounis) of New Jersey|Evangelos (Kourounis)]] of New Jersey
* Metropolitan [[Gerasimos (Michaleas) of San Francisco|Gerasimos (Michaleas)]] of San Francisco
* Metropolitan [[Savas (Zembillas) of Pittsburgh|Savas (Zembillas)]] of Pittsburgh
===Titular bishops===
* Bishop [[Dimitrios (Couchell) of Xanthos]]
* Bishop [[Andonios (Paropoulos) of Phasiane]]
* Bishop [[Demetrios (Kantzavelos) of Mokissos]]
===Archbishops of America===
* [[Alexander (Demoglou) of AmericaRodostolou|Alexander (Demoglou)]], 1922-1930
* [[Athenagoras I (Spyrou) of Constantinople|Athenagoras (Spyrou)]], 1931-1948
* [[Michael (Konstantinides) of America|Michael (Konstantinides)]], 1949-1958
* [[Iakovos (Coucouzis) of America|Iakovos (Coucouzis)]], 1959-1996
* [[Spyridon (Papageorge) of Chaldea|Spyridon (Papageorge)]], 1996-1999
* [[Demetrios (Trakatellis) of America|Demetrios (Trakatellis)]], 1999-2019* [[Elpidophoros (Lambriniadis) of America|Elpidophoros (Lambriniadis)]], 2019-present
===Former diocesan hierarchs===
* Metropolitan [[Iakovos (Garmatis) of Chicago|Iakovos (Garmatis)]] of Chicago
* Metropolitan [[Maximos (Aghiorgoussis) of Pittsburgh|Maximos (Aghiorgoussis)]] of Pittsburgh
* Metropolitan [[Silas (Koskinas) of Saranta Ekklesia|Silas (Koskinas) of New Jersey]]
* Metropolitan [[Anthony (Gergiannakis) of San Francisco]]
* Bishop [[Joachim (Alexopoulos) of Demetrias|Joachim (Alexopoulos) of Boston]]
* Bishop [[Athenagoras I (CavadasKavadas) of Thyateira and Great Britain|Athenagoras (CavadasKavadas) of Boston]]
* Bishop [[Philaret (Ioannides) of Chicago]]
* Bishop [[Kallistos (Papageorgakopoulos) of San Francisco]]
* Bishop [[Ezekiel (Tsoukalas) of Pisidia|Ezekiel (Tsoukalas) of Nazianzus]]
* Bishop [[Germanos (Liamadis) of Constantia]]
* Bishop [[Germanos (Psallidakis) of Synadon]]
* Bishop [[Meletios (Tripodakis) of Christianoupolis]]
* Bishop [[Aimilianos (Laloussis) of Harioupolis]]
* Bishop [[Gerasimos (Papadopoulos) of Abydos]]
* Bishop [[Demetrios (Makris) of Olympos]]
* Bishop [[Iakovos (Pililis) of Catania]]
* Bishop [[Philotheos (Karamitsos) of Meloa]]
* Bishop [[Paul (DeBallesterde Ballester-Convallier) of Nazianzus]]
* Bishop [[John (Kallos) of Amoriun]]
* Bishop [[Anthimos (Drakonakis) of Christoupolis|Anthimos (Drakonakis) of Olympos]]
==External links==
