Following the retirement of His Eminence Archbishop [[Archbishop Iakovos(Coucouzis) of America]] of blessed memory, His All Holiness Ecumenical [[Patriarch BARTHOLOMEW]], determined that the Church in the Western Hemisphere would be better served, if the then Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America were to be re-structured into separate jurisdictions. Subsequently in July of 1996, a new Metropolis for Central America and the Islands of the Caribbean was established, to which His Eminence Metropolitan Athenagoras was elected.