Catholic World News
Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople explains ‘primacy of service’
September 11, 2025
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CWN Editor's Note: Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople spoke about his primacy in the Orthodox world as “a primacy of service and not of authority,” in a French television interview.
The Ecumenical Patriarch explained:
: It is a fact that the Patriarch of Constantinople enjoys certain privileges that other primates do not have. From this point of view, he is first without equals. These privileges belong only to the Ecumenical Patriarch and neither my predecessors nor I have ever used them to impose our will and our opinion on other Churches. But we have used these privileges to help other Churches in their daily life, especially when they encountered difficulties.
In the same interview the Orthodox prelate said that he had “no intention” of reversing his decision to grant autocephaly (self-government) to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
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