Archbishop
Demetrios of America was born Demetrios Trakatellis in
Thessaloniki, Greece on February 1, 1928. In 1950 he
graduated with distinction from the University of Athens
School of Theology. In 1960 he was ordained a
deacon, and in 1964 a priest.
Archbishop Demetrios will lead the Wednesday morning
prayer and Bible Study at the Centennial
Gathering/General Assembly.
He was elected Bishop of Vresthena in 1967, 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, he studied New
Testament and Christian Origins and was awarded a Ph.D.
"with distinction" in 1972. After receiving this
degree, he returned to his ecclesiastical position in
the Archdiocese of Athens and undertook responsibilities
for the theological education of the clergy, ministry
among the youth, and other duties related to theological
conferences in Greece and abroad.
In 1968, he was elected Metropolitan of Attika and
Megaris, but he did not accept the post for reasons
related to the canonical order of the Church and to the
political conditions in Greece at that time.
Later, in 1977, he earned a second doctorate, namely a
Th.D. in Theology from the University of Athens.
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, he taught many of
America’s Greek Orthodox clergy. He also taught at
Harvard Divinity School as Visiting Professor of New
Testament during the academic years of 1984 to 1985 and
from 1988 to 1989. On August 20, 1991 the Sacred
Synod of the Church of Greece elevated the then Bishop
Demetrios of Vresthena to a Titular Metropolitan of
Vresthena with the simultaneous elevation of the Diocese
of Vresthena to the rank of the Metropolis. 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 resumed his
responsibilities at the Archdiocese of Athens.
Elected Archbishop of America on August 19, 1999 by the
Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
Archbishop Demetrios was enthroned on September 18, 1999
at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New
York City. He leads a church of more than one and
a half million Greek Orthodox Christians in the United
States.
As Archbishop of America, Exarch of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate, and head of the Eparchial Synod of the
Archdiocese, Archbishop Demetrios has traveled
extensively throughout the United States and globally.
In the course of hundreds of pastoral visits to
parishes, schools, and events nationwide, he has met
with hundreds of thousands of faithful. He has joined
with the dedicated Metropolitans and Bishops of the
Archdiocese in leading services, consecrating churches,
ordaining clergy, and extending the scope of the work of
the Church in America, all the while sharing in the
vitality and accomplishments of the people and the
parishes. Each and every visit affirms the
strength of the Church in America and his emphasis on
the essential role of the faithful in the work of
ministry.
A Decade of
Archiepiscopal Ministry
In his inspiring and visionary
Enthronement Address, Archbishop Demetrios presented his
“threefold plan” of ministry: 1) cultivating, nurturing,
and sustaining a vibrant and dynamic Orthodox faith in
the United States, 2) teaching and practicing limitless
love and philanthropy, and 3) emphasizing, pursuing and
enhancing the establishment of a strong and unbreakable
unity within the Church and the human community in
general. He stated:
“Here, a remarkably wide field of a truly great work is
open to us. A work aimed at the invigoration,
cultivation and growth of a dynamic and illumined faith,
within the clergy and lay people of the blessed Omegenia,
which constitute the flock of our Holy Archdiocese…. We
have to be the Church that gives a whole, powerful, and
genuine witness of faith to this great country of
America where God has planted us. All of us, without
exception, have been called by the Lord to become
conscious, true, dynamic and illumined people of faith,
who, as Apostle Peter underlines, are ready and prepared
to make a defense to anyone who calls us to account for
the hope that is in us” (1 Peter 3:15).
Since his enthronement, Archbishop Demetrios has labored
together with the Hierarchs, clergy, and laity of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese to strengthen conditions of
unity and peace, and to advance the administrative and
ecclesiastical stability of the work of the Church in
America. His archpastoral message has been one of
faith, unity, love, genuine relationships, and an
ever-increasing commitment to God and to service in the
name of Christ. As he unceasingly affirms, this is
essential, not only as a witness to the guiding presence
of the Holy Spirit, but also as a presupposition for the
growth and development of the Church and as individuals
and families.
On September 11, 2001, after the horrendous terrorist
attack, the world changed, bringing unprecedented
challenges and difficulties to people all over the
globe. Faced with the aftermath of the tragic
events that claimed the lives of almost 3,000 people and
also destroyed the edifice of St. Nicholas Greek
Orthodox Church which stood in the shadow of the World
Trade Center, Archbishop Demetrios rushed to Ground Zero
to view the destruction firsthand, to assist in any
possible way, and to develop a response plan.
There, in an atmosphere filled with smoke, ashes and
debris, the Archbishop was asked to offer prayers and
bless the ground were so many had died. To this
day, the faith of the workers he met and the heroic
faith of the victim’s families still move him to speak
of the unwavering spirit and the strength of people in
the face of despair.
Immediately following his first visit to Ground Zero,
Archbishop Demetrios called on all of the faithful to
commit to deep prayer and generous donations of
appropriate resources to meet the tremendous needs.
In an intense, multilevel ministry to families,
communities, and the nation, he conducted memorial
services and funerals for the victims of the September
11 tragedy, made repeated visits to Ground Zero,
affirmed the need to rebuild St. Nicholas Church, led an
extensive pastoral effort by the clergy and departments
of the Archdiocese, and joined other religious leaders
in Washington, DC and New York in advising federal,
state, and local officials as they coped with the crisis
and formulated plans for the future. He also
called upon the faithful of the Archdiocese to
contribute generously to the needs of the victims.
These efforts raised over two million dollars, which was
given to meet the needs of the families of Greek
Orthodox victims, and to funds supporting families of
firefighters, Port Authority personnel, and employees of
Cantor Fitzgerald who lost their lives on that tragic
day. He continues to guide the efforts of the St.
Nicholas community in working with governmental agencies
and church organizations to rebuild the Church as a
center of hope and faith for all future visitors to
Ground Zero. In December of 2001, the Archbishop spoke
about the impact of September 11 on religious and social
life at an international meeting in Brussels of more
than one hundred Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders.
The meeting entitled "The Peace of God in the World
Towards Peaceful Coexistence and Collaboration Among the
Three Monotheistic Religions: Judaism, Christianity and
Islam" was convened by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
and Romano Prodi, President of the European Union.
Archbishop Demetrios has also led the Greek Orthodox
Church in America in responding to additional challenges
facing people and communities in this nation and
throughout the world. In 2005, he responded
to the needs of contemporary families by proclaiming it
the “Year of the Family” for the parishes and ministries
of Archdiocese. This initiative followed the
appointment of an Archdiocesan Roundtable on the Family
and the establishment of the Center for Family Care in
an effort to address the tremendous challenges our
contemporary world is pressing upon all types of
families.
Further, Archbishop Demetrios established and broadened
the function of several Archdiocesan ministries to
answer societal needs, including the Department of
Philanthropy, which serves to further develop and
coordinate the philanthropic work of the Archdiocese
together with the National Ladies Philoptochos Society
and community organizations, and also the Office of
Church and Society, which serves to address contemporary
social and cultural issues that have broad impact.
Recognizing the long-term financial support needed to
sustain Archdiocesan programs, in 2005, the Archbishop
together with the remarkable assistance of prominent lay
members of the Church established “FAITH: An Endowment
for Orthodoxy and Hellenism” for the purpose of
assisting the national ministries and institutions of
the Archdiocese.
During his first six years, a monumental work was
achieved by his tireless work to strengthen the
administrative and financial stability and legislative
clarity of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
In addition, he has convened five successful
Clergy-Laity Congresses in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and
2008 and led in the revision of the Charter of the
Archdiocese, the significant revision of the Uniform
Parish Regulations, and the composition of the
Regulations for Monasteries, for Auxiliary
Bishops, and for the Spiritual Courts.
Archbishop Demetrios serves as Chairman of Standing
Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the
Americas (SCOBA), an organization which brings together
the hierarchs of Orthodox presences in North America
(Greek, Russian, Antiochian, Romanian, Serbian,
Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Carpatho-Russian, and Albanian)
for the purpose of strengthening the ties of unity among
Orthodox hierarchs and faithful. SCOBA has
endorsed a number of agencies to implement its mission,
including International Orthodox Christian Charities
(IOCC) and the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC).
Throughout this decade of his ministry and leadership,
Archbishop Demetrios has led in response to numerous
national and international needs and crises, including
the tremendous ordeals confronting the Ecumenical
Patriarchate, the Macedonian issue, and the Cyprus
tragedy. In March of 2005, Archbishop Demetrios
testified before the Helsinki Commission regarding
issues of religious freedom and the function of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey. He continues to
guide the work of the Order of Saint Andrew, Archons of
the Ecumenical Patriarchate in making known the plight
of the Church in Constantinople. He has also led
the responses to natural disasters including Hurricane
Katrina in the Gulf Coast in September 2005, where he
worked closely with IOCC, and he continues to oversee
the appeal for aid to Greece after the devastating fires
in the summer of 2007. Following this disaster, he
led efforts to raise and disperse over four million
dollars in relief funds.
His Eminence is recognized not only by Greek Orthodox
faithful, but by civic and government leaders as the
spiritual leader of a national and prominent religious
community in America. As a result of this and to
honor the Church, in his inaugural year His Eminence was
invited by President William Clinton to participate in
the White House Faith Leaders Summit: A Call to Action.
A month later he was invited to a private meeting with
President Clinton in New York City to discuss issues of
mutual concern regarding Greece and Cyprus, as well as
the reopening of Halki Theological School in Turkey. In
May of 2000, then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
hosted an historic dinner at the State Department in
honor of the Archbishop.
Over the last decade, Archbishop Demetrios has met with
and received many leaders and dignitaries including
Presidents William Jefferson Clinton, George W. Bush,
and Barak Obama. Annually, he has participated in
the White House commemoration of Greek Independence Day,
where he has presented remarks affirming both the
uniqueness and relationship of Greek and American
independence and emphasized the priority and necessity
of freedom for all people throughout the world.
As a national religious leader, Archbishop Demetrios was
invited to offer prayers at both the Republican and
Democratic National Conventions in 2000, 2004, and 2008,
and he attended the presidential Inaugural Ceremonies
that followed each election.
As an Orthodox hierarch for more than forty years, and
as a theologian, statesman, and biblical scholar of
international recognition, His Eminence has faithfully
demonstrated the healing power of Christ’s truth and
compassion. Called to serve the Greek Orthodox
Church in America during an active time in its history,
his message has been one that has called for unity,
genuine relationships, and an ever-increasing commitment
to God and to service in the name of Christ. He
has manifested the effectiveness of the grace of God in
establishing peace, tranquility, stability and trust
both within the Church and throughout the world.
Return to Centennial Gathering Home Page
