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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.
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 [[Chrysostom I|Archbishop Chrysostomos of Athens]], Meletius retired as Patriarch.
'''Meletius Metaxakis''' died on [[July 28]], [[1935]], and was buried in Cairo, Egypt.
