What caused the great schism in the Church in 1054
The great schism of 1054 marked the first major rift in the history of Christianity, separating the Orthodox Church in the East from the Roman Catholic Church in the West. Until then, all Christianity existed under one body, but churches in the East were developing distinct cultural and theological differences from those in the West. Tensions gradually increased between the two branches and finally boiled over in the Great Schism of 1054, also called the East-West Schism.
The great schism of 1054
The great schism of 1054 marked the division of Christianity and established the separation between the Orthodox churches in the East and the Roman Catholic church in the West.
Start date: For centuries, tension has grown between the two branches until they finally boiled on July 16, 1054.
Also known as: The East-West Schism; the great schism.
Key players: Michele Cerulario, Patriarch of Constantinople; Pope Leo IX.
Causes: ecclesiastical, theological, political, cultural, jurisdictional and linguistic differences.
Result: permanent separation between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox, Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox churches. Recent relations between East and West have improved, but churches remain divided to this day.
At the heart of the rupture was the Roman pope's claim to universal jurisdiction and authority. The Orthodox Church in the East had accepted to honor the pope but believed that ecclesiastical matters should be decided by a council of bishops and, therefore, would not grant the pope undisputed domination.
After the great schism of 1054, Eastern churches developed into Eastern, Greek and Russian Orthodox churches, while Western churches were formed in the Roman Catholic church. The two branches remained friendly until the crusaders of the Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople in 1204. To date, the schism has not been completely repaired.
What led to the great schism?
By the third century, the Roman Empire was becoming too large and difficult to govern, so Emperor Diocletian decided to divide the empire into two domains: the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire, known also as Byzantine Empire. One of the initial factors that caused the two domains to move was language. The main language in the West was Latin, while the dominant language in the East was Greek.
Small schisms
Even the churches of the divided Empire began to disconnect. Five patriarchs held authority in several regions: the Patriarch of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople and Jerusalem. The Patriarch of Rome (the pope) had the honor of "first among equals", but did not have authority over the other patriarchs.
Small disagreements called "small schisms" occurred in the centuries prior to the Great Schism. The first small schism (343-398) was on Arianism, a belief that denied Jesus that he had the same substance as God or equal to God, and therefore not divine. This belief was accepted by many in the Eastern Church but rejected by the Western Church.
Another small schism, the acacia schism (482-519), had to do with a discussion of the nature of the incarnate Christ, particularly if Jesus Christ had a divine-human nature or two distinct natures (divine and human). Another small schism, known as the Photian schism, occurred in the XNUMXth century. The issues of division centered on clerical celibacy, fasting, anointing with oil and the procession of the Holy Spirit.
Although temporary, these divisions between East and West led to bitter relationships as the two branches of Christianity grew more and more. Theologically, the East and the West had taken separate paths. The Latin approach was generally based on the practical, while the Greek mentality was more mystical and speculative. Latin thought was heavily influenced by Roman law and scholastic theology, while the Greeks understood theology through the philosophy and context of worship.
Practical and spiritual differences existed between the two branches. For example, churches disagreed that it was acceptable to use unleavened bread for communion ceremonies. Western churches supported the practice, while the Greeks used leavened bread in the Eucharist. Eastern churches allowed their priests to marry, while the Latins insisted on celibacy.
Eventually, the influence of the patriarchs of Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria began to weaken, bringing Rome and Constantinople to the fore as the two power centers of the church.
Linguistic differences
Since the main language of the people in the Eastern Empire was Greek, the Eastern churches developed Greek rites, using the Greek language in their religious ceremonies and the translation into Old Testament Greek of the Septuagint. Roman churches conducted services in Latin and their Bibles were written in the Latin Vulgate.
Iconoclastic controversy
During the eighth and ninth centuries, controversy also arose over the use of icons in worship. The Byzantine emperor Leo III declared that the worship of religious images was heretical and idolatrous. Many Eastern bishops collaborated with the rule of their emperor, but the Western Church remained firm in support of the use of religious images.
Byzantine icons
Mosaic details of Byzantine icons of Hagia Sophia. Muhur / Getty Images
Controversy over Filioque's clause
The controversy over the filioque clause triggered one of the most critical arguments of the east-west schism. This dispute centered on the doctrine of the Trinity and whether the Holy Spirit proceeds alone from God the Father or from the Father and the Son.
Filioque is a Latin term meaning "and the son". Originally, the Nicene Creed simply stated that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father", a phrase intended to defend the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The filioque clause was added to the creed by the Western Church to suggest that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father "and the Son".
The Eastern Church insisted on maintaining the original formulation of the Nicene Creed, leaving out the filioque clause. The leaders in the East argued loudly that the West had no right to alter the fundamental creed of Christianity without consulting the Eastern Church. Furthermore, they believed that the addition revealed the underlying theological differences between the two branches and their understanding of the Trinity. The Eastern Church thought it was the only true and just, believing that Western theology was erroneously based on Augustinian thought, which they considered heterodox, which means unorthodox and heretical.
Leaders on both sides refused to move on the filioque issue. The eastern bishops began to accuse the pope and the bishops in the west of heresy. Eventually, the two churches prohibited the use of the rites of the other church and excommunicated each other with the true Christian church.
What sealed the east-west schism?
The most controversial of all and the conflict that brought the Great Schism to the head was the question of ecclesiastical authority, particularly if the pope in Rome had power over the patriarchs in the East. The Roman church had supported the primacy of the Roman pope since the fourth century and claimed to have universal authority over the whole church. Eastern leaders honored the pope but refused to grant him the power to determine policy for other jurisdictions or to change the decisions of the ecumenical councils.
In the years preceding the Great Schism, the church in the East was led by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michele Cerularius (around 1000-1058), while the church in Rome was led by Pope Leo IX (1002-1054).
At the time, problems arose in southern Italy, which was part of the Byzantine Empire. The Norman warriors had invaded, conquering the region and replacing the Greek bishops with the Latin ones. When Cerularius learned that the Normans prohibited Greek rites in the churches of southern Italy, he took revenge by closing the Latin rite churches in Constantinople.
Their long-standing controversies erupted when Pope Leo sent his principal cardinal adviser Humbert to Constantinople with instructions to deal with the problem. Humbert aggressively criticized and condemned Cerularius' actions. When Cerularius ignored the pope's requests, he was formally excommunicated as Patriarch of Constantinople on July 16, 1054. In response, Cerularius burned the papal bull of the excommunication and declared the bishop of Rome a heretic. The east-west schism was sealed.
Reconciliation attempts
Despite the Great Schism of 1054, the two branches still communicated with each other in friendly terms until the time of the Fourth Crusade. However, in 1204, the western crusaders brutally sacked Constantinople and contaminated the large Byzantine church of Saint Sophia.
Byzantine Cathedral of Saint Sophia
The great Byzantine cathedral, Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya), captured indoors with a fish-eye lens. funky-data / Getty Images
Now that the rupture was permanent, the two branches of Christianity became increasingly divided doctrinally, politically and on liturgical matters. An attempt at reconciliation took place in the Second Council of Lyon in 1274, but the agreement was categorically rejected by the Eastern bishops.
Until recently, in the 20th century, relations between the two branches improved enough to make real progress in healing some differences. The dialogue between the leaders led to the adoption of the Joint Catholic-Orthodox Declaration of 1965 by both the Second Vatican Council in Rome and a special ceremony in Constantinople. The declaration recognized the validity of the sacraments in the Eastern churches, removed the mutual excommunications and expressed the desire for continuous reconciliation between the two churches.
Further efforts for reconciliation included:
In 1979 the Joint International Commission for theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church was established.
In 1995, Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople visited Vatican City for the first time, to join an inter-religious day of prayer for peace.
In 1999, Pope John Paul II visited Romania at the invitation of the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The occasion was the first visit of a pope to an Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism of 1054.
In 2004, Pope John Paul II returned the relics to the East from the Vatican. This gesture was significant because the relics were believed to have been robbed from Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade of 1204.
In 2005 Patriarch Bartholomew I, together with other leaders of the Eastern Orthodox Church, attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI reiterated his commitment to work for reconciliation.
In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI visited Istanbul at the invitation of the ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew I.
In 2006, Archbishop Christodoulos of the Greek Orthodox Church visited Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on the first official visit of a Greek church leader to the Vatican.
In 2014, Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew signed a joint declaration stating their commitment to seek unity among their churches.
With these words, Pope John Paul II expressed his hopes for eventual unity: “During the second millennium [of Christianity] our churches were rigid in their separation. Now the third millennium of Christianity is upon us. May the dawn of this millennium arise on a church that has once again full unity ”.
In a prayer service on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the joint Catholic-Orthodox Declaration, Pope Francis said: “We must believe that just as the stone before the grave has been set aside, so too will any obstacle to our full communion be also be removed. Whenever we put our long-standing prejudices behind us and find the courage to build new fraternal relationships, we confess that Christ is truly risen. "
Since then, relationships have continued to improve, but the main problems remain unsolved. East and West can never unite completely on all theological, political and liturgical fronts.