FAIRFIELD
, Conn.— Sacred Heart University bestowed the degree Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, upon His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios at a special convocation on Wednesday, November 9.
Archbishop Demetrios was elected Archbishop of America on August 19, 1999, by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate convened by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. He was enthroned as the spiritual leader of 1.5 million Greek Orthodox Christians in America at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York City. Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America and Exarch of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, is the sixth Archbishop of America since the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese was established in 1922.
The special academic convocation will include a procession of University dignitaries in full academic dress and a performance by the Youth Choir and Senior Choir from the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Bridgeport, Conn. Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport and Chairman of Sacred Heart University, Most Reverend William E. Lori, S.T.D., D.D., will vest the hood of Archbishop Demetrios in the degree-granting ceremony.
Archbishop Demetrios of America, son of the late Georgia and Christos Trakatellis, was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, on February 1, 1928. Upon graduation from high school in 1946, he pursued Biblical Studies at the University of Athens School of Theology, graduating with distinction. The Archbishop was ordained a deacon in 1960 and a priest in 1964. Prior to coming to the United States in 1965, he spent time as a monastic. He was consecrated a bishop in 1967 for the Archdiocese 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, Archbishop Demetrios studied New Testament and Christian Origins and was awarded a Ph.D. "with distinction," in 1972. Later in 1977, he earned 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, MA., where he taught many of America's Greek Orthodox clergy. He also taught at Harvard Divinity School as a Visiting Professor of New Testament.
He returned to Greece in 1993 to pursue full-time scholarly writing and research. At the same time, he assumed responsibilities at the Archdiocese of Athens. A prolific writer, he is the author of four major books: Authority and Passion (1987), The Transcendent God of Eugnostos (1991), Christ, the Pre-existing God (1992) and The Fathers Interpret (1996).
In 2003, the Archbishop was inducted into the prestigious Academy of Athens in the Discipline of Theology in the areas of Ethics and Political Sciences.
As Archbishop of America and Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, His Eminence was elected in 2004 as a member of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This election was part of a modification in the Synod to include six Hierarchs from eparchies of the Ecumenical Throne outside of Turkey.
He has labored together with the bishops, clergy and laity of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in an intense effort to strengthen conditions of unity and peace and to advance the work of the Church in America. As Archbishop of America, Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and head of the Eparchial Synod of the Archdiocese, His Eminence has traveled extensively throughout the U.S. over the past four years.
The Archbishop made his first official visit to Greece at the invitation of the Greek government in January 2002 where he met with Church and government officials. Additionally, he was officially honored by the cities of Athens and Thessaloniki, addressed the Greek Parliament and was honored by the University of Athens. On the occasion of the patronal feast of the Church of Rome, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Archbishop Demetrios led the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to The Vatican and met with Pope John Paul II in June 2003.
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