The Great Schism, also known as the East-West Schism, was an event that brought about the final separation of the Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Roman) churches. Although traditionally given the date of 1054, the precise point at which the split became a fixed and lasting reality is difficult to determine, since there was a larger political and theological context that eventually led to the terminal division.
The Eastern and Western churches had long been estranged over doctrinal issues that, along with several other problems, contributed to the growing misunderstanding and alienation between the two groups. The two exhibited differences of philosophical understanding, liturgical usage, language, custom, and political rivalries. Open divisions on doctrinal questions, as well as matters of discipline and daily practice, had long occurred prior to 1054, as can be seen in the Photian Schism of the 9th century – due to the disagreements over papal interference into the life of the church. And so, situations between Rome and Constantinople became increasingly tense and the two centers became progressively more isolated.
The final break between the two churches was marked by the mutual excommunication of Pope Leo IX and Michael Cerularius, patriarch of Constantinople. This final action split the Christian Church along doctrinal, theological, linguistic, political, and geographic lines – leading to the development of the modern Roman Catholic Church (Latin branch) and the Eastern Orthodox church (Greek branch). There was an attempt to lift the excommunications in 1089 through reconciliation between Pope Urban II and Patriarch Nicholas III, but it essentially came to nothing. These excommunications were not finally lifted until 1965, when Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras presided over simultaneous ceremonies, which revoked the excommunication decrees. Even this, however, did little, for divisions and increasingly divergent practices and theology continued to divide the two churches as the rift continued to widen.
Several issues that helped to increase tension included:
· Emperor Leo III the Isaurian outlawed the veneration of icons in the 8th century. This policy, which came to be called Iconoclasm, was rejected by the West.
· The Western Church's insertion of "Filioque" into the Latin version of the Nicene Creed.
· Disputes in the Balkans, Southern Italy, and Sicily over whether Rome or Constantinople had ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
· In the East, endorsement of Caesaropapism, subordination of the church to the religious claims of the dominant political
order, was most fully evident in the Byzantine Empire at the end of the first millennium, while in the West, where the decline
of imperial authority left the Church relatively independent,there was growth of the power of the Papacy.
· As a result of the Muslim conquests of the territories of the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, only two
rival powerful centres of ecclesiastical authority, Constantinople and Rome, remained.
· Certain liturgical practices in the West that the East believed represented illegitimate innovation: the use of unleavened bread for the Eucharist, for example.
· Celibacy among Western priests (both monastic and parish), as opposed to the Eastern discipline whereby parish priests
can be married men.
The map of Europe as divided by the East-West Schism of 1054
This map shows the divisions between Orthodox Christianity (blue), Roman Catholacism (orange), and other religions (green), created by the Great Schism of 1054.
The Great Schism of 1054
The Great Schism, also known as the East-West Schism, was an event that brought about the final separation of the Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Roman) churches. Although traditionally given the date of 1054, the precise point at which the split became a fixed and lasting reality is difficult to determine, since there was a larger political and theological context that eventually led to the terminal division.
The Eastern and Western churches had long been estranged over doctrinal issues that, along with several other problems, contributed to the growing misunderstanding and alienation between the two groups. The two exhibited differences of philosophical understanding, liturgical usage, language, custom, and political rivalries. Open divisions on doctrinal questions, as well as matters of discipline and daily practice, had long occurred prior to 1054, as can be seen in the Photian Schism of the 9th century – due to the disagreements over papal interference into the life of the church. And so, situations between Rome and Constantinople became increasingly tense and the two centers became progressively more isolated.
The final break between the two churches was marked by the mutual excommunication of Pope Leo IX and Michael Cerularius, patriarch of Constantinople. This final action split the Christian Church along doctrinal, theological, linguistic, political, and geographic lines – leading to the development of the modern Roman Catholic Church (Latin branch) and the Eastern Orthodox church (Greek branch). There was an attempt to lift the excommunications in 1089 through reconciliation between Pope Urban II and Patriarch Nicholas III, but it essentially came to nothing. These excommunications were not finally lifted until 1965, when Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras presided over simultaneous ceremonies, which revoked the excommunication decrees. Even this, however, did little, for divisions and increasingly divergent practices and theology continued to divide the two churches as the rift continued to widen.
Several issues that helped to increase tension included:
· Emperor Leo III the Isaurian outlawed the veneration of icons in the 8th century. This policy, which came to be called
Iconoclasm, was rejected by the West.
· The Western Church's insertion of "Filioque" into the Latin version of the Nicene Creed.
· Disputes in the Balkans, Southern Italy, and Sicily over whether Rome or Constantinople had ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
· In the East, endorsement of Caesaropapism, subordination of the church to the religious claims of the dominant political
order, was most fully evident in the Byzantine Empire at the end of the first millennium, while in the West, where the decline
of imperial authority left the Church relatively independent,there was growth of the power of the Papacy.
· As a result of the Muslim conquests of the territories of the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, only two
rival powerful centres of ecclesiastical authority, Constantinople and Rome, remained.
· Certain liturgical practices in the West that the East believed represented illegitimate innovation: the use of unleavened
bread for the Eucharist, for example.
· Celibacy among Western priests (both monastic and parish), as opposed to the Eastern discipline whereby parish priests
can be married men.
This map shows the divisions between Orthodox Christianity (blue), Roman Catholacism (orange), and other religions (green), created by the Great Schism of 1054.