In the Ravenna doumernt of 13 October 2007 the representatives of the Eastern Orthodox Church agreed that `` Rome , as the Church that ` presides in love ' according to the phrase of St Ignatius of Antioch ( To the Romans , Prologue ) , occupied the first place in the taxis , and that the bishop of Rome was therefore the protos among the patriarchs . In the Ravenna Document of 13 October 2007 , the representatives of the Eastern Orthodox Church agreed that `` Rome , as the Church that ` presides in love ' according to the phrase of St. Ignatius of Antioch ( To the Romans , Prologue ) , occupied the first place in the taxis , and that the bishop of Rome was therefore the protos among the patriarchs , if the Papacy unites with the Orthodox Church .