The Great Schism of 1054 marked the split between the Western Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. This schism was the culmination of religious, political, and linguistic differences that grew over centuries since the Roman Empire divided into western and eastern halves. While there were attempts to reconcile, the break became official in 1054 when papal legates excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople and he condemned them in return.

2. The Great Schism of 1054 was the breakup of
the Christian church into two sections—the
Western and the Eastern sections.
These two sections were to turn into the Roman
Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox
Church. The divide remains today although
there have been attempts to reconcile the two
churches.

3. The Great Schism is also referred to at the East-
West Schism and although the date given for the
schism is 1054, there had been a lot of tension
between the two sides for a long time before this
date.

4. Roots of the Schism
The schism did not occur just because of
religious differences. Political and social
influences also had an effect.
One of the big causes was the breakup of the
Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire had become so large that
it was difficult to govern it as a whole.

5. In 285, the Roman Emperor Diocletian divided the
empire into two parts:

6. Both halves of the empire worked together but
slowly the two halves moved apart.
By the beginning of the sixth century, the Western
Roman Empire was being overrun by the barbarians
while the Eastern Roman Empire continued to do
well.
Language also caused the two halves to slowly drift
apart.
The main language in the West was Latin but the
main language in the East was Greek.

7. The number of people who spoke both
languages decreased as did communication
between the two halves.
As a result of these differences, the two parts of
the Church began to separate.
They started to have different views regarding
religious doctrine and also used different rites.
Due to these geographical difference they
started to develop regional differences.

8. Roman Emperor Diocletian

9. Little Schisms
There was a lot of tension between the two
halves of the Church even before the Great
Schism occurred.
These “little schisms” occurred over the years
before the Great Schism.
The Church had a number of bishops who
were recognized at patriarchs.
Patriarchs held authority over other bishops.

10. There are five patriarchs:
The Patriarch of Rome
The Patriarch of Alexandria
The Patriarch of Antioch
The Patriarch of Constantinople
The Patriarch of Jerusalem

11. Pentarchy (from the Greek Πενταρχία, Pentarchía,
from πέντε pénte, "five", and
ἄρχειν archein, "to rule") is a model of
Church organization formulated in the laws
of Emperor Justinian I (527–565) of
the Roman Empire. In this model,
the Christian church is governed by the
heads (patriarchs) of the five
major episcopal sees of the Roman
Empire: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria
, Antioch, and Jerusalem.

14. The Patriarch of Rome
The Patriarch of Rome was viewed as being the “first
among equals” but he did not have any authority
over the other patriarchs.
One of the first little schisms occurred between the
years 343 and 398 when the Church split over
Arianism (the belief that Jesus was not equal to God
and therefore not divine).
Arianism was accepted by many in the Eastern
Church but not in the Western Church.

15. What Happened in 404
Another problem arose in 404 when the Byzantine Emperor,
Arcadius, refused to accept John Chrysostom as the
Patriarch of Constantinople.
Chrysostom was backed by the Roman Pope and since the
eastern patriarchs agreed with the Byzantine Emperor and
refused to accept Chrysostom as legitimate, the Pope broke
off communication with the eastern part of the Church.
This schism was not repaired until 415 when the eastern
patriarchs finally agreed that Chrysostom was a legitimate
patriarch.

18. What happened in 482
A third “little schism” occurred in 482 when the
Byzantine Emperor Zeno attempted to reconcile the
differences between the way both halves of the
Church viewed Jesus.
Some viewed Jesus as having two natures (human
and divine) while others thought Jesus was only
divine.
Zeno issued an edict called Henotikon but is was
rejected by Pope Felix III.

19. What happened in 482
The Patriarch of Constantinople, Acacius, had encouraged Zeno
to issue the edict and as a result the Pope excommunicated the
patriarch.
This schism was healed in 519 when a new Byzantine Emperor,
Justin I, recognized the excommunication.
Even though the Church had technically come to an agreement,
the eastern patriarchs’ beliefs were moving away from those of
the western patriarchs.
The eastern patriarchs now believed in miaphysitism.
Miaphysitism is the belief that Jesus’s human side and divine
side were one and indivisible as well as indistinguishable from
one another.

20. The Great Schism
 There are a number of reasons that led to the Great Schism beyond
the little schisms that have been mentioned earlier.
 One of the first problems was that the Roman Catholic Church
inserted some extra words into the Nicene Creed.
 The Nicene Creed is a Christian statement of faith which was agreed
to at a meeting in Nicaea (called the First Council of Nicaea).
 This statement had been revised a couple of times but in 431, at the
Third Ecumenical Council in Ephesus (another meeting), the council
explicitly stated that further additions would not be allowed.

21. The Great Schism
The Roman Catholic Church added some extra words anyway.
The opening statement which read:
“We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds
from the Father,”
Was changed by the Roman church so that the sentence read:
“We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds
from the Father and the Son.”
The Roman Catholic Church had added the words
“and the Son.”

23. The Official Break
Some Roman Catholic churches in
Constantinople began using Roman
Catholic practices instead of following the
Eastern Orthodox practices.
Ecumenical Patriarch Michael Cerularius
demanded that these churches follow the
eastern traditions.

24. The Official Break
The Pope read the letter and ordered a
return letter be written to address the
points made by Cerularius and defend
the supremacy of the Pope.
The Pope then sent the letter with a
delegation to Constantinople.

25. The Official Break
The Roman Catholic churches had the
approval of the Pope (Leo IX) in Rome
and refused.
As a result, Cerularius shut the
churches down. He then had a letter
written attacking the practices of the
West.

26. The Delegation

27. The Delegation

29. The delegation arrived in April 1054.
The delegation did not like the way they were
welcomed and walked out of the meeting with
Cerularius after giving him the Pope’s letter.
Cerularius, angry over the delegations actions,
became even angrier when he realized the letter’s
seals had been opened and the delegates had
published the letter for everyone to read.
As a result, the Patriarch ignored the delegates and
refused to recognize their authority.

30. The letter contained the excommunication of the
Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius.
Cerularius burned the letter (called a Papal Bull) and
then condemned the delegates.
The Great Schism was official.
The two sides still communicated with each after but
during the Fourth Crusade, Christians, with the
blessing of Rome, sacked Constantinople and the
Hagia Sophia.
After this, the break between the two sides rarely
communicated and attempts to reconcile failed.