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In effect, this was the first step towards the establishment of the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America]], which was incorporated in [[1921]], and officially recognized by the State of New York in [[1922]].
Unfortunately, the hopes of the immigrant Greek community that their long canonical disorder in America would be settled were not realized. The royalists in Greece rejected both the creation and subsequent separation of a "Venizelist" Archdiocese in America. Metropolitan Germanos (Troianos), a royalist partisan, was sent from Greece to challenge Alexander for control of the new archdiocese. Spurred on by the two New York [[Greek language]] dailies, the royalist [[Atlantis (newspaper)|Atlantis]], and the Venizelist [[National Herald (newspaper)|National Herald]], the fledgling Greek Archdiocese rapidly disintegrated into violently opposed factions. It would remain bitterly divided for almost a decade (1922-1931).
When Meletius was elected '''Ecumenical Patriarch Meletius IV''' in November, [[1921]], one of his first official decrees on March 1st of that year was to restore the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This was formalized on [[May 11]], [[1922]] when Patriarch Meletios declared the Church of America as an Archdiocese appointing the Rt. Rev. Alexander Titular Bishop of Rodostolon , as his Patriarchal Exarch.
