ecumenical patriarch
noun
variants
often Ecumenical Patriarch
: the patriarch of Constantinople as the dignitary given first honor in the Eastern Orthodox Church
Examples of ecumenical patriarch in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
When & Where The president will participate in a bilateral meeting at 2 p.m. at the White House with Bartholomew, the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople.
—
Kristina Karisch, The Hill, 15 Sep. 2025
In 2019, Ukraine's Orthodox Church was granted independence from the Russian Orthodox Church by the ecumenical patriarch in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey).
—Lauren Green, Fox News, 16 Feb. 2025
And the beginning of the war in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and the first invasion in Donbas, that actually created the conditions where the ecumenical patriarch in Constantinople agreed to the separation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
—CBS News, 6 July 2022
In 2019, Bartholomew declared the OCU fully independent, claiming that the ecumenical patriarch has the power to unilaterally grant autocephaly.
—Grayson Quay, The Week, 29 May 2022
The historic center of Orthodoxy is Constantinople—present-day Istanbul—and the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople is recognized by other patriarchs (there are nine in all) as primus inter pares, or first among equals.
—Paul Elie, The New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2022
But, the testy relations between Kirill and the current ecumenical patriarch, Bartholomew, burst into the open over the war.
—New York Times, 18 Apr. 2022
Against Russian opposition, the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, to which Ukraine had been loyal until 1686, recognized the Ukrainian church.
—Jason Horowitz, BostonGlobe.com, 4 July 2019
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Kristina Karisch, The Hill, 15 Sep. 2025
In 2019, Ukraine's Orthodox Church was granted independence from the Russian Orthodox Church by the ecumenical patriarch in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey).
—Lauren Green, Fox News, 16 Feb. 2025
And the beginning of the war in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and the first invasion in Donbas, that actually created the conditions where the ecumenical patriarch in Constantinople agreed to the separation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
—CBS News, 6 July 2022
In 2019, Bartholomew declared the OCU fully independent, claiming that the ecumenical patriarch has the power to unilaterally grant autocephaly.
—Grayson Quay, The Week, 29 May 2022
The historic center of Orthodoxy is Constantinople—present-day Istanbul—and the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople is recognized by other patriarchs (there are nine in all) as primus inter pares, or first among equals.
—Paul Elie, The New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2022
But, the testy relations between Kirill and the current ecumenical patriarch, Bartholomew, burst into the open over the war.
—New York Times, 18 Apr. 2022
Against Russian opposition, the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, to which Ukraine had been loyal until 1686, recognized the Ukrainian church.
—Jason Horowitz, BostonGlobe.com, 4 July 2019
Cite this Entry
“Ecumenical patriarch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecumenical%20patriarch. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.
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