Archbishop Demetrios of America - Overview

Overview

Archbishop Demetrios is the son of the late Georgia and Christos Trakatellis and was born in Thessaloniki, Greece on February 1, 1928. Upon graduation from high school in 1946, he pursued continuous research in the field of Biblical Studies, enrolling at the University of Athens School of Theology. In 1950, he graduated from the University of Athens School of Theology with distinction.

The Archbishop was ordained a deacon in 1960 and a priest in 1964. Prior to moving to the United States in 1965, Demetrios spent time as a monastic. He was elected titular Bishop of Vresthena in 1967, as an auxiliary bishop to the Archbishop 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.

In 1968, he was elected Metropolitan of Attika and Megaris, but refused the post for reasons related to the canonical order of the Church and to the political conditions in Greece at that time.

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, Massachusetts. Serving as a faculty member for more than a decade, Demetrios taught many of America's Orthodox clergy. He also taught at Harvard Divinity School as a Visiting Professor of New Testament during the academic years of 1984-85 and 1988-89.

After several years in the United States, 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.