Ecumenical

Ecumenical, from Gr. oikoumenikos, 'of' or 'from the whole earth'—oikoumenē (gē) meaning 'the inhabited (world)'—is a term applied to the general councils of the universal church from that of Nicea onwards (see the article COUNCIL). The 'Apostles' Creed, the creed of Nice and Constantinople, and the creed of Athanasius are distinguished as the 'ecumenical symbols' of the Christian church. Though the title 'Ecumenical Bishop' was one that originally in the Eastern church might be applied to any patriarch, yet Pelagius II. and his successors in the Roman see persistently protested against its being given in imperial documents to the patriarchs of Constantinople, who had adopted it since 587.