Archbishop Demetrios of America

His Eminence Geron Demetrios
Elder Archbishop of America
Installed	September 18, 1999
Term ended	Incumbent
Predecessor	Spyridon
Orders
Consecration	September 17, 1967
Personal details
Birth name	Demetrios Trakatellis
Born	(1928-02-01) February 1, 1928 Thessaloniki, Greece
Nationality	Greek
Denomination	Greek Orthodox
Residence	New York, New York, USA
Parents	Georgia and Christos Trakatellis
Alma mater	University of Athens, Harvard University

Elder Archbishop Demetrios of America (born Demetrios Trakatellis; Greek: Δημήτριος Τρακατέλλης) is the current elder archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and Exarch of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Overview

Elder Archbishop Demetrios is the son of the late Georgia and Christos Trakatellis and was born in Thessaloniki, Greece on February 1, 1928. Upon graduation from high school in 1946, he pursued continuous research in the field of Biblical Studies, enrolling at the University of Athens School of Theology. In 1950, he graduated from the University of Athens School of Theology with distinction.

The Elder Archbishop was ordained a deacon in 1960 and a priest in 1964. Prior to moving to the United States in 1965, Demetrios spent time as a monastic. He was elected titular Bishop of Vresthena in 1967, as an auxiliary bishop to the Archbishop of Athens with the primary responsibility for the theological education of the clergy.

From 1965 to 1971, on scholarship from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Elder Archbishop Demetrios studied New Testament and Christian Origins and was awarded a Ph.D. "with distinction," in 1972. Later in 1977, he earned a Th.D. in Theology from the University of Athens.

In 1968, he was elected Metropolitan of Attika and Megaris, but refused the post for reasons related to the canonical order of the Church and to the political conditions in Greece at that time.

From 1983 to 1993, he served as the Distinguished Professor of Biblical Studies and Christian Origins at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts. Serving as a faculty member for more than a decade, Demetrios taught many of America's Orthodox clergy. He also taught at Harvard Divinity School as a Visiting Professor of New Testament during the academic years of 1984–85 and 1988–89.

After several years in the United States, he returned to Greece in 1993 to pursue full-time scholarly writing and research. At the same time, he assumed responsibilities at the Archdiocese of Athens.

On September 18, 1999, Elder Archbishop Demetrios was enthroned at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity as Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.^[1][2] The cathedral on New York City's Upper East Side serves as the national cathedral of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and is the seat of the Archbishop.^[3][4]

On November 26, 2015, The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America announced with gratitude to His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the elevation of the Holy Archdiocese of America to the rank of Gerontiki Eparchy (meaning an eparchy headed by a Geron/Elder hierarch) of the Ecumenical Throne in the person of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, who from now on will be called His Eminence Geron Archbishop Demetrios of America.

Writings

A prolific writer, he is the author of six major books:

• Presence of the Holy Spirit (1984)
• Authority and Passion (1987)
• The Transcendent God of Eugnostos (1991)
• Christ, the Pre-existing God (1992)
• The Fathers Interpret (1996)
• A Call to Faith (2004)

He is also the author of hundreds of articles and essays published in various periodicals.

Academy and Holy Synod

In November 2002, the Archbishop was unanimously elected by the prestigious Academy of Athens as an abroad-residing member in the Discipline of Theology in the areas of Ethics and Political Sciences. He was officially inducted into the Academy on November 14, 2003.

As Archbishop of America and Exarch of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Demetrios was elected on February 19, 2004, as a member of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This election was part of a modification in the Synod to include six hierarchs from eparchies of the Ecumenical Throne outside of Turkey. The Archbishop attended his first meeting of the Synod which met in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 9–11, 2004.

Archbishop Demetrios delivered invocations at the Democratic National Convention on August 27, 2008 and the Republican National Convention on September 4, 2008.^[5] He also delivered the benediction at the Presidential Inaugural Luncheon on January 21, 2013.^[6][7]

Family

His brother, Antonios Trakatellis, is a New Democracy MEP for Greece.

References

Sources

• Biographical profile of Archbishop Demetrios (GOARCH)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elder Archbishop Demetrios of America.

• Official website
• Archbishop Demetrios of America playlist on YouTube
• "Archbishop Demetrios of America Receives the High Title of 'Geron'"
• "'ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΣ ΓΕΡΩΝ ΑΜΕΡΙΚΗΣ' ΑΠΟ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ Ο ΑΜΕΡΙΚΗΣ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΣ ΜΕ ΑΠΟΦΑΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΣΥΝΟΔΟΥ"
• Orthodox Wiki