Archbishop Christodoulos was discharged from the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami on Saturday after recovering from a liver transplant operation that was called off after doctors found that his cancer had spread.

The head of the Church of Greece said he would like to return from the USA but that he has to remain in Miami while doctors decide on his next course of treatment.

He also backed the way that his doctor Andreas Tzakis has been handling the archbishop's condition. «He is a marvelous person and an excellent doctor,» said Christodoulos.

Doctors have yet to reveal what treatment the archbishop will undergo, but it is thought that they will try some form of chemotherapy to tackle the cancer that was detected in his liver this summer but has since spread to his stomach.