ecumenical patriarch

noun

often capitalized E&P
: 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 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 So Moscow has been at loggerheads for centuries with the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, always the spiritual leader of the church. New York Times, 18 Apr. 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

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ecumenical patriarch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1862, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of ecumenical patriarch was in 1862

Dictionary Entries Near ecumenical patriarch

Cite this Entry

“Ecumenical patriarch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecumenical%20patriarch. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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