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Meletius IV (Metaxakis) of Constantinople

86 bytes added, 01:41, March 17, 2012
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He was born on [[September 21]], 1871, in the village of Parsas on the island of Crete. He entered the [[Seminary of the Holy Cross]] in [[Jerusalem]] in 1889. He was [[tonsure]]d with the name ''Meletius'' and [[ordination|ordained]] a [[hierodeacon]] in 1892. He completed the theological courses at Holy Cross and was assigned as secretary to the [[Holy Synod]] in Jerusalem by Patriarch [[Damianus of Jerusalem|Damianus]] in 1900.
Meletius was evicted from the Holy Land by Patriarch Damianus, along with the then-administrator [[Chrysostomos II (Hadjistavrou)of Athens|Chrysostomos]], later [[Archbishop of Athens]], in 1908 for "activity against the Holy Sepulchre." Meletius Metaxakis was then elected [[Metropolitan]] of Kition in Cyprus in 1910. In the years before the war, Metr. Meletius began successful talks in New York with representatives of the [[Episcopal Church of America]], with the intention of "expanding relations between the two Churches."
After the death of Patriarch [[Joachim III of Constantinople|Joachim III]] on [[June 13]], 1912, Meletius was nominated as a candidate for the Patriarchal Throne in [[Church of Constantinople|Constantinople]]. However, the Holy Synod decided that Meletius could not [[canon law|canonically]] be registered as a candidate. Instead, he would continue in his [[metropolis]] until 1918 when, with the support of his political allies, he was elevated to the position of [[Archbishop]] of Athens in 1918. This would be a temporary measure, for after a series of political changes in Greece, he was later deprived of his [[see]].
A staunch supporter of Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, his fortunes were linked with those of the Venizelists. The expulsion of King Constantine in 1917 allowed Meletius' installation as Archbishop of Athens, but the 1920 electoral defeat of Venizelos allowed the king's return and Meletius' [[deposition]]. His replacement as Archbishop was the Royalist Archbishop [[Theoklitos I of Athens|Theocletos]], the man whom he had displaced two years previously.
During his tenure as Archbishop, he tried to apply order to the patchwork of independent "trustee" Greek [[parish]]es in America by applying a 1908 Patriarchal decree that gave episcopal oversight of the Americas to the [[Church of Greece]], and even visited America in the summer of 1918 to survey the situation. Upon his return to Greece three months later, he appointed Bishop [[Alexander (Demoglou) of Rodostolou|Alexander of Rodostolou]] as his resident American legate. Alexander was delegated the unenviable task of initiating canonical order among the independent Greek parishes throughout North America.
While Archbishop he also journeyed to England where he conducted talks concerning the union between the [[Anglican Communion|Anglicans]] and the Orthodox Church.
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{{succession|
before=[[Theocletus I (Minopoulos) of Athens|TheocletusI]]|
title=[[List of Archbishops of Athens|Metropolitan of Athens and All Greece]]|
years=1918-1920|
after=TheocletusI}}
{{succession|
before=[[Germanus V (Kavakopoulos) of Constntinople|Germanus V]]|
[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:20th-century bishops]]
[[Category:Archbishops of Athens]]
[[Category:Patriarchs of Constantinople]]
[[Category:Patriarchs of Alexandria]]
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