Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I (born Dimitrios Archontonis, 29 February 1940) is the current ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, serving as the 270th successor of the Apostolic See of St. Andrew. Since his election on 22 October 1991, he has become the longest-serving Ecumenical Patriarch in history. As the primus inter pares (first among equals), he occupies the First See of the Eastern Orthodox Church, acting as the highest-ranking primate and the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christianity worldwide.