As one of the oldest surviving religious institutions in the world, the Eastern Orthodox Church has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the Near East. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the Head of the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope, but the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is recognized by them as primus inter pares ("first among equals") and regarded as the spiritual leader of many of the eastern Christian parishes. It operates as a communion of autocephalous congregations, each governed by its bishops and adherents in local synods. The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptised/baptized members. Christ Pantocrator, 6th century, Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai the oldest known icon of Christ, in one of the oldest monasteries in the world
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