The most important church in Cyprus, the Church of Cyprus, is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church. While recognising the seniority and prestige of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople, it has enjoyed complete administrative autonomy under its own Archbishop since the 5th century. The Great Schism had major consequences for the Church of Cyprus. Under Lusignan and Venetian rule, the Church of Cyprus was pressured to recognize the authority of the pope. Under the British, there was an attempt to secularize all public institutions, but this move was bitterly opposed by Church authorities, who used the conflict with the colonial administration to gain leadership of the Greek nationalist movement in fighting for independence. At independence (1959–1960), Archbishop Makarios III, was elected president of the republic to hold the post until his death in 1977.