Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople

Ecumenical Patriarch Of Constantinople

The Ecumenical Patriarch (Greek: Η Αυτού Θειοτάτη Παναγιότης, ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, Νέας Ρώμης και Οικουμενικός Πατριάρχης, "His Most Divine All-Holiness the Archbishop of Constantinople New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch") is the Archbishop of Constantinople–New Rome and ranks as primus inter pares (first among equals) in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which is seen by its approximately 300 million followers worldwide as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

The Ecumenical Patriarch has been historically known as the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople, as distinct from the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople and the ancient Latin Patriarch of Constantinople. Historically, within the five ecumenical sees of Pentarchy, the patriarch is regarded as the successor of Saint Andrew, the Apostle. The current holder of the office is Bartholomew I, the 270th holder of the title.

The Turkish government recognises him as the spiritual leader of the Greek minority in Turkey, and refer to him as the Greek (lit. Roman) Orthodox Patriarch of the Phanar (Turkish: Fener Rum Ortodoks Patriği). The Patriarch was subject to the authority of the Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, until the declaration of Turkish Republic in 1923. Today, according to the Turkish law, he is subject to the authority of the Republic of Turkey and must be a citizen of Turkey to be elected Patriarch.

The Patriarch of Constantinople has been designated the Ecumenical Patriarch since the sixth century. The exact significance of the style, which has been used occasionally for other prelates since the middle of the fifth century, is nowhere officially defined but, according to the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, the title has been criticized in the Roman Catholic Church as incompatible with its own claims by the See of Rome.