Meliton (born Sotirios Hatzis) (1913 – 27 December 1989), was a

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

who served as the

Metropolitan of Chalcedon The Metropolis of Chalcedon () is an ecclesiastical territory (diocese) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Christianity spread in Chalcedon during the 2nd century AD. The city was initially the see of a bishopric before being promot ...

from 1966 until his death in 1989. Born in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

and educated at the Halki Theological Seminary, he was appointed Secretary of the Holy Synod by Patriarch

Benjamin I Benjamin I may refer to: * Pope Benjamin I of Alexandria, ruled in 623–662 * Benjamin I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in 1936–1946 {{hndis, Benjamin 01 ...

in 1937 and in 1948

Protosynkellos A protosyncellus, protosynkellos or protosyngel () is the principal deputy of the bishop of an eparchy for the exercise of administrative authority in an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic church. The equivalent position in the Western Christi ...

to Patriarchs Maximus V and

Athenagoras I Athenagoras I of Constantinople (), born Aristocles Matthaiou Spyrou (; 6 April 1886 (25 March) – 7 July 1972), was Greek Orthodox Archbishop of North and South America from 1930 to 1948 and the 268th Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople ...

.Kallis, Anastasios (2011
"Meliton of Chalcedon"
''Religion Past and Present''. Brill. . Online version retrieved 25 July 2019 (subscription required for full access). As

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

of Imbros and Tenedos (1953) and subsequently of Chalcedon (1966), Meliton was the right-hand man of Athenagoras I, the

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople, archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox ...

. He was strongly favoured to succeed Athenagoras in 1972, but the Turkish Government, in an effort to keep the Patriarchate under its control, had Meliton's name removed from the list of acceptable candidates.Chryssavgis, John (2016)
''Bartholomew: Apostle and Visionary''
pp. 96–105. Thomas Nelson. He was known for his role in ecumenical relations and for

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

's gesture of kneeling to kiss his feet during a visit to the Vatican on 7 December 1975. Meliton was no friend of the

Regime of the Colonels In politics, a regime (also spelled régime) is a system of government that determines access to public office, and the extent of power held by officials. The two broad categories of regimes are democratic and autocratic. A key similarity acros ...

and after his sermon "I condemn hypocrisy" at the

Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation (), popularly known as the Metropolis or Mitropoli (), is the cathedral church of the Archbishopric of Athens and all of Greece. History Construction of the cathedral began on Christmas Day, 1842 ...

on 8 March 1970, ostensibly encouraging preparation for Lent but widely understood and intended as an attack on the regime, enjoyed considerable following in Greece. In 1984 Meliton suffered a severe stroke from which he never fully recovered. He died five years later in Istanbul. His body rests at St. Ignatius Greek Orthodox Cemetery, Kadıköy.

References

Further reading