Reports Indicate That Patriarch Bartholomew Is Calling on Archbishop Demetrios to Resign

The Orthodox Beacon website reports today (May 2, 2010) that several stories in recent days tell about a supposed attempt to oust Archbishop Demetrios as the leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in America.

For example, the National Herald -- a Greek-American oriented daily newspaper published in the United States -- has recently reported that both the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople and high-level officials in the Greek-American Community have been discussing the possible resignation of Archbishop Demetrios as head of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

Specifically, Patriarch Bartholomew was reportedly annoyed that Archbishop Demetrios invited the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) -- which was granted autocephaly in 1970 by the Patriarchate of Moscow -- to the upcoming Episcopal Assemblies. Patriarch Bartholomew had instructed Archbishop Demetrios not to include the OCA -- led by Metropolitan Jonah -- to this conference, since the Ecumenical Patriarch has never recognized the OCA as a valid Orthodox jurisdiction in America.

The National Herald also attributes the displeasure of Patriarch Bartholomew toward Archbishop Demetrios to the fact that this sort of meeting could result in the establishment of a single autocephalous Orthodox Church in America -- that is, a united American Orthodox Church that would be independent of the Ecumenical Patriarch.

A similar attempt to establish an independent American Orthodox Church by Archbishop Iakovos in 1994 resulted in the Patriarch of Constantinople forcing him into "early retirement."