The local Churches churches of the Ecumenical Patriarchate consist of five archdioceses, three churches, 13 metropolises ("metropolis" is preferred use over "metropolitanate" within this particular Orthodox jurisdiction), and one diocese, each of which reports directly to the Patriarch of Constantinople with no intervening authority. In addition, three of the five archdioceses have internal metropolises (16 in all), which are part of their respective archdioceses rather than distinct administrative entities, unlike the other metropolises. ==Peculiar prerogatives of the patriarchate==:''Main article: [[Prerogatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate]]''In history and in [[canons|canonical literature]] (i.e. the Church's canons and traditional commentaries on them), the Ecumenical Patriarchate has been granted certain prerogatives (''[[presbeia]]'') which other autocephalous Orthodox churches do not have. Not all of these prerogatives are today universally acknowledged, though all do have precedents in history and canonical references. The following is a (non-exhaustive) list of these prerogatives and their reference points: *Equal prerogatives to Old Rome (Canon 3 of the [[Second Ecumenical Council]], Canon 28 of the [[Fourth Ecumenical Council]], Canon 36 of the [[Quinisext Council]])*The right to hear appeals, if invited, regarding disputes between (Canons 9 and 17 of the Fourth Ecumenical Council)*The right to ordain bishops for areas outside defined canonical boundaries (Canon 28 of the Fourth Ecumenical Council)*The right to establish [[stavropegial]] [[monasteries]] even in the territories of other [[patriarchate]]s (the [[Epanagoge]], commentaries of [[Matthew (Blastares)]] and [[Theodore Balsamon]])