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[[Image:Meletios Metaxakis.jpg|thumb|Meletius during a visit to New York in 1921 as the exiled Archbishop of Athens]]
His All-Holiness '''Patriarch Meletius IV''' (Greek: Μελέτιος Δ'), born '''Emmanuel Metaxakis''' (Greek: Εμμανουήλ Μεταξάκης), was the 261st successor to the [[Apostle Andrew]] and [[Patriarch of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople]] from 1921 to 1923. Afterward, as Meletius II, he also served as 30th successor to the [[Apostle Mark]] and [[Patriarch of Alexandria|Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa]] from 1926 to 1935. Before he became Ecumenical Patriarch, he was Archbishop of Athens from 1918 to 1920.
==Early life==
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 [[Damianos of Jerusalem|Damianos]] in 1900.
Meletius was evicted from the Holy Land by Patriarch Damianos, along with the then-administrator [[Chrysostomos (Hadjistavrou)|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]].
==Archbishop of Athens==
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 [[Theocletos 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 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.
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]], he repealed the 1908 Tomos on [[March 1]], 1922. This effectively transferred jurisdiction of the new Greek Archdiocese from himself, as Archbishop of Athens, to himself, as Ecumenical Patriarch. His justification for this move 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." 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 Patriarchal [[Exarch]].
Unfortunately, the hopes of the immigrant Greek community that their long canonical disorder in America would be settled was not realized. The royalists in Greece rejected both the creation and subsequent separation of a "Venizelist" Archdiocese in America. Metropolitan [[Germanos (Troianos) of Monemvasia and Lacedaemonos|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 ''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 Patriarch [[Athenagoras I (Spyrou) of Constantinople|Athenagoras]].
== Ecumenism and Anglican outreach ==
*[[w:Patriarch Meletius IV of Constantinople|''Patriarch Meletius IV of Constantinople'' at Wikipedia]]
*[[w:el:Μελέτιος Μεταξάκης|''Μελέτιος Μεταξάκης'' at Wikipedia (Greek)]]
*[http://wiki.phantis.com/index.php/Meletius_Metaxakis|''Meletius Metaxakis'' at PhantisWiki]
==Reference==
after=?}}
{{succession|
before=[[Theocletus Theoklitos I of Athens|Theocletus]]|
title=[[List of Archbishops of Athens|Archbishop of Athens and All Greece]]|
years=1918-1920|
after=[[Theocletus Theoklitos I of Athens|Theocletus]]}}
{{succession|
before=[[Germanus V of Constantinople|Germanus V]]|
