The Great Schism

His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When they could no longer possibly tolerate each other or each others doctrines concerning the Christian Thing they fell apart in every way possible and to date this scar is still a gaping wound.

The East-West Schism, or the Great Schism, is the historic sundering of eucharistic relations between the See of Rome (now the Roman Catholic Church) and the sees of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem (now the Orthodox Church).

It divided medieval Mediterranean Christendom into Eastern and Western branches, which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, respectively.

Relations between East and West had long been embittered by political and ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes.

Pope Leo IX and Patriarch of Constantinople Michael Cerularius heightened the conflict by suppressing Greek and Latin in their respective domains.

In 1054, Roman legates traveled to Cerularius to deny him the title Ecumenical Patriarch and to insist that he recognize the Church of Rome's claim to be the head and mother of the churches. Cerularius refused.

The leader of the Latin contingent excommunicated Cerularius, while Cerularius in return excommunicated the legates.  [Latin = Legates] and continued on as the Eastern Orthodox Church.

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