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Metaxakis was one of the most fascinating characters in Orthodox church history. He was the only man successively to lead four autocephalous (independent) Orthodox Churches: those of [[Church of Cyprus|Cyprus]], [[Church of Greece|Greece]], [[Church of Constantinople|Constantinople]], and [[Church of Alexandria|Alexandria]].
--- In 1921 he Metaxakis was elected Ecumenical Patriarchone of the most fascinating characters in Orthodox church history. He resigned in 1923 following was the defeat only man successively to lead four autocephalous (independent) Orthodox Churches: those of the Greek Army in Asia Minor[[Church of Cyprus|Cyprus]], [[Church of Greece|Greece]], [[Church of Constantinople|Constantinople]], and [[Church of Alexandria|Alexandria]].
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Meletius was evicted from the Holy Land by Patriarch Damianos, along with the then administrator Chrysostomos, later [[Archbishop of Athens]] in 1908 for "activity against the Holy Sepulcher." Meletius Metaxakis was then elected [[Metropolitan of Kition]] in 1910. In the years before the war, Metropolitan Meletius began successful talks in New York with representatives of the [[Episcopal Church of America]], with the intention of "expanding relations between the two Churches."
After the death of [[Joachim III of Constantinople|Patriarch Joachim III]] on June 13, 1912, Meletius was nominated as a candidate for the Patriarchal Throne in [[Constantinople]]. However, the Holy Synod decided that Meletius could not canonically be registered as a candidate. Instead, he would serve as a [[bishop]] in [[Cyprus]] until 1918 when, with the support of his political allies and acquaintances, he was uncanonically elevated to the position of Archbishop of Athens in 1918. This would be a termporary temporary measure, for after a series of political changes in Greece, he was later deprived of his see.
== Archbishop of Athens ==
While Archbishop he also journeyed to England where he conducted talks concerning the union between the [[Anglican Church|Anglicans]] and the Orthodox Church
While Meletius was still Archbishop of Athens, he along with a group of like-minded persons visited England where . Like so many other political refugees, Metaxakis fled to the United States (February, 1921). Still recognized as the legitimate head of the Church of Greece by his American legate, Bishop Alexander, Metaxakis presided over the organization of some Greek parishes in North America into a formal "Greek Archdiocese" on September 15, 1921.
Under pressure from Meletius, the Patriarchate of Constantinople accepted the validity of Anglican orders in 1922 — an act which even Rome protested against. Then, in 1923, Meletius initiated the "Pan-Orthodox" Congress (May 10–June 8). On June 1st, clergy and laymen dissatisfied with the innovating Patriarch held a meeting which ended in an attack on the Phanar with the goal of deposing Meletius and expelling him from Constantinople. On July 1, 1923, on the pretext of illness and the need for medical treatment, Meletius left Constantinople. On September 20, 1923, under pressure from the Greek government and through the intervention of Archbishop Chrysostomos of Athens, Meletius retired as Patriarch.
In 1921 he was elected Ecumenical Patriarch. He resigned in 1923 following the defeat of the Greek Army in Asia Minor. == End of Later Life ==
After his retirement from the Constantinople Patriarchate, he was elected Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa in 1926. He served until his death on July 28, 1935, and was buried in Cairo, Egypt.
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