'''Primus inter pares''First among equals', or ''first among equals'' is a Latin phrase indicating that a person is the most senior of a group of people sharing the same rank or office. Usually, the role is considered a necessary inclusion to a system where all parties are equal. In the Orthodox Church, the [[Church of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople]] (currently His All-Holiness [[Bartholomew I (Archondonis) of Constaninople|Bartholomew I]]) fulfils this role.
Closely related to collegiality, these concepts caused the rejection of concept of the [[papacy]], and is the [[ecclesiology|ecclesiological]] reason for the Great Schism.