For the first time since His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon was elected Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, His Eminence, Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese visited the Chancery in Syosset, NY on Tuesday, May 10, 2016. The Archbishop had previously visited the Chancery in 1999 and 2002.
The day began as Metropolitan Tikhon welcomed Archbishop Demetrios and his entourage, which included His Grace, Bishop Andonios of Phasiane, Chancellor of the Greek Archdiocese; Archimandrite Nathanael Symeonides, Director of the Archdiocese’s Office of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations; and the Reverend Deacon Eleftherios Constantine, in Saint Sergius of Radonezh Chapel. After venerating the altar and the relics enshrined therein, Archbishop Demetrios met the OCA’s Officers—Archpriest John Jillions, OCA Chancellor; Archpriest Eric G. Tosi, Secretary; and Melanie Ringa, Treasurer—and Protopresbyter Leonid Kishkovsky, Director of External Affairs. “God grant you many years” was sung in Archbishop Demetrios’ honor to mark his recent elevation to the dignity of “Geron,” or Elder Hierarch, of the Ecumenical Throne.
During lunch, the discussion centered around current and future relations and dialogue between the Orthodox Church in America and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese; the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA; the place of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey; and the Great and Holy Council, slated to convene in June 2016 in Crete. The hope was expressed to resume in some form the formal dialogue that had taken place between the OCA and the Ecumenical Patriarchate from 1986 through 1997.
