Almost since the foundation of the World Council of Churches (1948), there has been a Permanent Delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate located at the Headquarters of the WCC in Geneva. The office was established in 1955 as a sign of continuous interest and co-operation with the WCC and the Ecumenical Movement on the part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constan
tinople 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.
