It holds primacy of honor among the Eastern Orthodox churches and is headed by the Ecumenical Patriarch in the Phanar district of Istanbul.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople traces its see to Saint Andrew and to the ancient church of Byzantium, elevated at the councils of the fourth and fifth centuries. The Ecumenical Patriarch convenes pan Orthodox gatherings and grants tomos documents recognizing autocephaly, while directly governing dioceses in Turkey, the diaspora, Mount Athos, and Crete.
Sources
Primary
- Canon 3 of the First Council of Constantinople (381) and Canon 28 of the Council of Chalcedon (451)
Secondary
- John Meyendorff, The Orthodox Church: Its Past and Its Role in the World Today (1981)