You have accessed the website of the Per­ma­nent Dele­ga­tion of the Ecu­meni­cal Patri­ar­chate to the World Council of Churches. The Ecu­meni­cal Patri­ar­chate of Constanti­nople is the spir­itual centre of the world-wide Ortho­dox Church and the Patri­arch of Constanti­nople is con­sidered the highest au­thor­ity within the East­ern Ortho­dox Church. Since the sixth cen­tury, he has borne the title of Arch­bishop of Constanti­nople and New Rome, and Ecu­meni­cal Patri­arch. As the «primus inter pares» (first among equals) bishop of the Ortho­dox Church, the Ecu­menical Patri­arch under­takes vari­ous Pan-Ortho­dox ini­ti­at­ives, and co­ordin­ates re­la­tions within the Ortho­dox Communion, as well as re­la­tions between all the Ortho­dox and other Chris­tian Churches and World Religions.