Separation of Catholic and Orthodox Churches

 The first real, although still partial, split came with the Nestorian

and Monophysite heresies condemned at the Councils of Ephesus

(431) and Chalcedon (451). A much more serious separation

occurred in 1054, when the Eastern churches and Rome mutually

excommunicated each other—ending recognition of the validity

of the other as a proper church. The two main issues involved

in this separation were the primacy of the pope and the manner

of explaining the doctrine of the Trinity. The Orthodox accepted

the pope as the most honored bishop of the Christian world, but

he was still one bishop among many. They thus did not believe

that the pope should have direct authority over all Christians.

The Orthodox Church also refused to accept the Catholic change

made to the Nicene/Constantinople Creed concerning the.

relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son. For the Eastern

churches, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone. The

Catholic Church declares that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the

Father and the Son, Jesus. The disagreements became so intense

that they led to the mutual ex-communication of the patriarch of

Constantinople, the head of the Orthodox Church, and the papal

legate representing the power and authority of the pope as head

of the Western Church. The lengthy process of estrangement

continued until it culminated in a complete split upon the sack of

Orthodox Constantinople by the Catholic Crusaders in 1204