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When John Paul II proposed the question, "Do not many of those involved in ecumenism today feel a need for such a ministry?"{{ref|9}} in 1995, many Orthodox answered strongly in the affirmative. The question of primacy is not only an important ecumenical topic, but a need to examine the issue is keenly felt within Orthodoxy. Fr. Meyendorff states:
::A united witness of the universal [[episcopate ]] of the Church is not simply a pragmatic necessity, but a sign that the Holy Spirit did not abandon the Church… the unity and coherence of [the Church's] witness, the service to the world which it implies, the common action which it requires, can be assured only if the episcopate remains one. The function of the "first bishop" is to serve that unity on the world scale, just as the function of a regional primate is to be the agent of unity on a regional scale.{{ref|10}}
The need for a united witness of the Church is a primary consideration. Many have called for renewed thinking about the very concept of primacy itself.
