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Often, in the exercise of its primacy, Constantinople has been accused of [[papism]]<ref>[http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=1801 Constantinople shows increasing tendency to Orthodox 'papism' - Russian priest] - Russian news source Interfax</ref>, which is something of an exaggerated accusation, because papism is the claim for one bishop of direct and absolute jurisdiction in every diocese, something which the Ecumenical Patriarch has never claimed for himself.
The difference of opinion is not completely partisan, however, as some Russian canonists adopt the view more commonly associated with Constantinopolitan canonists, such as J. Sokoloff, a prominent professor at the [[St. Petersburg Theological Academy]]:
:In general, there was complete reciprocity between the patriarchs of the Orthodox East, complete mutual love, brotherly respect and spiritual unity and rapport. Talk of papacy in the Orthodox East is thus quite out of place; the Patriarchs of Constantinople, who have occasionally been erroneously accused of papist tendencies, never aspired to absolute domination in the Eastern Orthodox Church. They were always motivated by fraternal love and solicitude in their relations with the other patriarchs of the East. There has never been and there never will be a papist spirit in the Orthodox East (quoted in Maximos, p. 299).
Fundamentally, the difference in opinion is based in a different conception of universal Church governance. Either each autocephalous church is to be regarded as absolutely sovereign in its sphere, unanswerable to any others, or there is a mutual interdependence of the churches and patriarchs upon one another, and this interdependence is expressed in the primatial leadership of the Ecumenical Patriarch.
In the former view, while it is often admitted that other Orthodox churches might cut off communion with an erring patriarch, that break in communion is not regarded as truly binding. Thus, individual sovereignty is absolutely maintained. In the latter view, however, autocephalous churches are truly answerable to one another, and the tribunal which exercises this accountability, when invited by appeal, is the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Both positions have difficulty when worked out in practice, as there is always the possibility that a given patriarch or Ecumenical Patriarch may act in a tyrannical manner. Historically, though, tyrannical patriarchs have been deposed, typically led by either the Ecumenical Patriarch himself (in the case of other patriarchs) or by the clergy of that patriarchate (in the case of the [[deposition]] of their own patriarch), often in conjuction conjunction with a patriarch from a neighboring autocephalous church, such as [[Church of Alexandria|Alexandria]].
Fr. [[John Meyendorff]] saw the need for the primacy of Constantinople:
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===The Resident Synod===
Beginning at some point in the 4th century, the affairs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople were governed by a particular form of [[holy synod]], referred to as the ενδημουσα συνοδος (''endimousa synodos'', "resident synod"). Its president was the Ecumenical Patriarch, and its members consisted of all bishops resident in or visiting the imperial capital. The name first appears as a technical term in 448, but the institution itself probably stems from the time of the promotion of [[Byzantium ]] to the imperial capital of Constantinople in the 4th century. By means of this standing council of [[bishop]]s, including even hierarchs from outside the jurisdiction of the patriarchate, the business of the church centered at the capital (including the election or deposition of its patriarch) was decided by the participation of representatives from throughout the Orthodox Church. It thus became natural for this synod also to examine affairs of ecumenical importance, particularly those in which it was desired for the emperor to lend his authority.
The ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' describes the institution thus:
