EGUMENICO. — From the Greek γή οἰκουμενικός (τῆς οἰκουμένης), meaning “universal.” The title of “ecumenical” was first assumed by the Byzantine patriarch even before his separation from the Roman Pontiff, who later protested against such usage (see COSTANTINOPOLI, PATRIARCATO di). The title seems originally to have referred to the primacy of the Byzantine patriarch, not over the whole world, but only within the Eastern Empire. To this day it is the title of the dissident patriarch of Constantinople.
The term is also applied to “ecumenical” councils, i.e., universal councils, as distinct from provincial or national synods (see CONCILIO).
---
EGUMENICO. — Comes of Isauria in the first half of the 6th century, an adherent of the Monophysite Severus. Author of a commentary on the Apocalypse, published by C. H. Hoskier (The Complete Commentary of Oecumenius on the Apocalypse [University of Michigan Studies, Humanities Series, 23], Ann Arbor 1928). Among his theological authorities he cites: Athanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, Methodius, Cyril, and the commentary of Hippolytus on Daniel. He also knew Eusebius of Caesarea, Evagrius Ponticus, Clement of Alexandria, and Ernesti.
His commentary was used by Arethas of Caesarea. The commentaries on the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Paul and the Catholic Epistles (PG 118, 119), of a later period, are wrongly attributed to him, though they contain some fragments that are marginal glosses by him on the homilies of St. John Chrysostom (the fragments on the Pauline Epistles are found in Karl Staab, Pauluskommentare aus der griechischen Kirche [Neue Studien zur Geschichte der Theologie und des Christentums, 15], Münster 1933, pp. 423 ff. and pp. xxxvii ff. of the introduction). This Oecumenius is to be distinguished from the bishop Oecumenius of Foticea, who lived in the 10th century.