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In recent years, there has been much tension between the Archdiocese and the current Ecumenical Patriarch, [[Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople|Bartholomew I]], especially regarding the level of autonomy the former has with regard to the latter. One of the important incidents in this ongoing tension was the (allegedly... forced) retirement in 1996 of Archbishop [[Iakovos (Coucouzis) of America|Iakovos]] after his leadership during the [[Ligonier Meeting]] in 1994, where many of the Orthodox hierarchs in America came together to begin the formation of a unified Orthodox Church of America. Iakovos was replaced with Archbishop [[Spyridon (Papageorge) of America|Spyridon]], whose 'tempestuous' tenure as archbishop lasted only 3 years, seeing his (again allegedly... forced) retirement in 1999 and replacement by the current Archbishop, [[Demetrios (Trakatellis) of America|Demetrios]].
A strong movement of laity in the Archdiocese has been engaged in the tensions with Constantinople, as well, especially a particular group known as [[Orthodox Christian Laity]] (OCL), which includes some of the wealthiest members of the Archdiocese. In 2004, 35 plaintiffs unsuccessfully sued unsucessfully Archbishop [[Demetrios (Trakatellis) of America|Demetrios]] and the Greek Archdiocese in an attempt to force it to invalidate the 2003 charter granted by Constantinople; their lawsuit stated that the Greek hierarchy had imposed the rewritten charter without approval from delegates at the national Clergy-Laity Congress, violating the terms of the 1978 charter. The main aim of the suit was to attempt to gain more autonomy from the [[Church of Constantinople]], especially regarding the choice of the American Archdiocese's primate.
The suit met with condemnation by the Greek hierarchy in America, which stated that the plaintiffs had "sued Christ Himself" (a quote from Metropolitan [[Iakovos (Krinis) of Chicago|Iakovos of Chicago]]). It was eventually dismissed by the Supreme Court of the State of New York, on grounds that the Greek Archdiocese was hierarchical and therefore acting within its proper bounds, that the courts did not have the authority to intervene in such matters.
