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In another twist of fate, the exiled Meletius was elected Ecumenical Patriarch two months later on November 27, 1921. He was not about to give up his American creation, however, and in one of his first acts as patriarch, herepealed he repealed the 1908 Tomoson March 1, in effect transferring 1922. This effectively transferred jurisdiction of the new Greek Archdiocese from himself (, as Archbishop of Athens) , to himself (, as the Ecumenical Patriarch). Metaxakis justified the His justification for this move by was a reference to Canon 28 of the 451 [[Council of Chalcedon]], which he claimed granted the Ecumenical Patriarchate jurisdiction over Orthodox Christians in all "barbarian lands." Metaxakis appointed This was formalized on May 11, 1922 when Meletios declared the Church of America as an Archdiocese and appointing the Rt. Rev. Alexander Titular Bishop of Rodostolon, as his old friend Bishop Alexander to lead the new archdiocesePatriarchal Exarch.

When Meletius was elected Ecumenical Patriarch Meletius IV in November, 1921, one of his first official decrees on March 1st of that year was to restore the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This was formalized on May 11, 1922 when Patriarch Meletios declared the Church of America as an Archdiocese appointing the Rt. Rev. Alexander Titular Bishop of Rodostolon , as his Patriarchal Exarch. Unfortunately, the hopes of the immigrant Greek community that their long canonical disorder in America would be settled were not realized. The royalists in Greece rejected both the creation and subsequent separation of a "Venizelist" Archdiocese in America. [[Metropolitan Germanos (Troianos)]], a royalist partisan, was sent from Greece to challenge Alexander for control of the new archdiocese. Spurred on by the two New York Greek language dailies, the royalist Royalist Atlantis, and the Venizelist National Herald, the fledgling Greek Archdiocese rapidly disintegrated into violently opposed factions. It would remain bitterly divided for almost a decade (1922-1931)until the moderating influence of the future [[Athenagoras I|Patriarch Athenagoras]].

His entreaties to the Anglican Church courted controversy within Orthodoxy. On December 17, 1921, the Greek Ambassador in Washington sent a message to the prefect at Thessaloniki stating that Meletius "vested, took part in an Anglican service, knelt in prayer with Anglicans, venerated their Holy Table, gave a sermon, and later blessed those present."

On July 1, 1923, on the pretext of illness and the need for medical treatment, Meletius left Constantinople. On September 20, 1923, under pressure from the Greek government and through the intervention of [[Archbishop Chrysostomos ]] of Athens, Meletius retired as Patriarch. In 1921 he was elected Ecumenical Patriarch. He resigned in 1923 following This also coincided with the defeat failure of the Greek Army expedition in Asia Minor, and may have also played a role.