Position of the Inclusive Orthodox Church on the primacy of the

Pope of Rome and Patriarch of the West

Blessed John XXIII
[Angelo Giovanni Roncalli]
1881-1963

"The Pope of Rome as the successor of Saint Peter holds primacy in the Church s college of bishops.  He is primus inter pares, or honored as the "first among equals" (protocoryphaeus, in Greek meaning "first in the choir").

"However — as has been recognized by the actions of the apostles and of the Church — only the fathers united in ecumenical council can ratify dogmas of the Church and establish when pronouncements made by the Holy See or any other bishop are compelling upon all the faithful of the one, holy catholic and apostolic Church."

The Inclusive Orthodox Church is not in any official canonical or ecclesiastical communion with the Roman Catholic Church.  Nonetheless, we honor in that same ecumenical spirit shown by Blessed John XXIII and his successors.