Religion is the spiritual component of life, according to many. Now there are many different beliefs, but in the center there are always two directions that attract the most attention. The Orthodox and Catholic churches are the most extensive and global in the religious world. But once it was one single church, one faith. It is rather difficult to judge why and how the division of churches took place, because only historical information has survived to this day, but nevertheless certain conclusions can be drawn from them.

Split

Officially, the collapse occurred in 1054, it was then that two new religious directions appeared: Western and Eastern, or, as they are also commonly called, Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic. Since then, it is believed that adherents of the Eastern religion are orthodox and orthodox. But the reason for the division of religions began to emerge long before the ninth century, and gradually led to great divisions. The division of the Christian Church into Western and Eastern was quite expected on the basis of these conflicts.

Disagreements between churches

The ground for the great schism was laid on all sides. The conflict touched almost all spheres. The churches could not find agreement either in rites, or in politics, or in culture. The nature of the problems was ecclesiological and theological, and it was no longer possible to hope for a peaceful solution to the issue.

Differences in politics

The main problem of the conflict on political grounds was the antagonism between the emperors of Byzantium and the popes. When the church was in its infancy and rising to its feet, the whole of Rome was a single empire. Everything was one - politics, culture, and only one ruler stood at the head. But from the end of the third century, political differences began. Still remaining a single empire, Rome was divided into several parts. The history of the division of churches directly depends on politics, because it was Emperor Constantine who initiated the schism by founding a new capital on the eastern side of Rome, known in our time as Constantinople.

Naturally, the bishops began to be based on the territorial position, and since it was there that the See of the Apostle Peter was founded, they decided that it was time to declare themselves and gain more power, to become the dominant part of the entire Church. And the more time passed, the more ambitiously the bishops perceived the situation. The western church was seized with pride.

In turn, the popes defended the rights of the church, did not depend on the state of politics, and sometimes even opposed the imperial opinion. But what was the main reason for the division of churches on political grounds was the coronation of Charlemagne by Pope Leo III, while the Byzantine successors to the throne completely refused to recognize the rule of Charles and openly considered him a usurper. Thus, the struggle for the throne was also reflected in spiritual affairs.

The history of a split. Orthodoxy and Catholicism

In this publication, the reader is offered an abbreviated version of the article by Archimandrite Plakida (Dezey) "The History of a Schism". This is a brief study of the causes and history of the gap between Western and Eastern Christianity. Without examining dogmatic subtleties in detail, dwelling only on the sources of theological disagreements in the teachings of Blessed Augustine of Hippo, Father Plakida gives a historical and cultural overview of the events that preceded the mentioned date of 1054 and followed it. He shows that the division did not happen overnight or suddenly, but was the result of "a long historical process, which was influenced by both doctrinal differences and political and cultural factors."

The main translation work from the French original was carried out by students of the Sretensky Theological Seminary under the guidance of T.A. Shutova. Editorial correction and preparation of the text was carried out by V.G. Massalitina. The full text of the article is published on the website “Orthodox France. View from Russia".

Harbingers of a split

The teaching of the bishops and church writers whose works were written in Latin - St. Hilary of Pictavia (315-367), Ambrose of Milan (340-397), St. John Cassian the Roman (360-435) and many others - was completely in tune with the teaching Greek holy fathers: Saints Basil the Great (329-379), Gregory the Theologian (330-390), John Chrysostom (344-407) and others. The Western Fathers sometimes differed from the Eastern ones only in that they emphasized more on the moralizing component than on a deep theological analysis.

The first attempt at this doctrinal harmony occurred with the appearance of the teachings of Blessed Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (354-430). Here we meet with one of the most disturbing mysteries of Christian history. There was nothing of a heresiarch in Blessed Augustine, who possessed to the highest degree a sense of the unity of the Church and love for it. And yet, in many ways, Augustine opened up new paths for Christian thought, which left a deep imprint on the history of the West, but at the same time turned out to be almost completely alien to the non-Latin Churches.

On the one hand, Augustine, the most "philosophizing" of the Fathers of the Church, is inclined to exalt the abilities of the human mind in the field of knowledge of God. He developed the theological doctrine of the Holy Trinity, which formed the basis of the Latin doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father. and Son(in Latin - filioque). According to an older tradition, the Holy Spirit, like the Son, originates only from the Father. The Eastern Fathers always adhered to this formula contained in the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament (see: John 15, 26), and saw in filioque distortion of the apostolic faith. They noted that as a result of this teaching in the Western Church there was a certain belittling of the Hypostasis Itself and the role of the Holy Spirit, which, in their opinion, led to a certain strengthening of the institutional and legal aspects in the life of the Church. From the 5th century filioque was universally allowed in the West, almost without the knowledge of the non-Latin Churches, but it was added to the Creed later.

As far as the inner life is concerned, Augustine emphasized human weakness and the omnipotence of Divine grace to such an extent that it appeared that he diminished human freedom in the face of Divine predestination.

Augustine's brilliant and highly attractive personality, even during his lifetime, was admired in the West, where he was soon considered the greatest of the Fathers of the Church and almost completely focused only on his school. To a large extent, Roman Catholicism and the Jansenism and Protestantism that splintered from it will differ from Orthodoxy in that which they owe to St. Augustine. Medieval conflicts between priesthood and empire, the introduction of the scholastic method in medieval universities, clericalism and anti-clericalism in Western society are, in varying degrees and forms, either a legacy or a consequence of Augustinism.

In the IV-V centuries. there is another disagreement between Rome and other Churches. For all the Churches of East and West, the primacy recognized for the Roman Church stemmed, on the one hand, from the fact that it was the Church of the former capital of the empire, and, on the other hand, from the fact that it was glorified by the preaching and martyrdom of the two supreme apostles Peter and Paul . But it's superior inter pares("between equals") did not mean that the Church of Rome was the seat of central government for the Universal Church.

However, starting from the second half of the 4th century, a different understanding was emerging in Rome. The Roman Church and its bishop demand for themselves a dominant authority that would make it the governing organ of the universal Church. According to Roman doctrine, this primacy is based on the clearly expressed will of Christ, who, in their opinion, gave this authority to Peter, saying to him: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16, 18). The Pope of Rome considered himself not just the successor of Peter, who has since been recognized as the first bishop of Rome, but also his vicar, in whom, as it were, the supreme apostle continues to live and through him to rule the Universal Church.

Despite some resistance, this position of primacy was gradually accepted by the whole West. The rest of the Churches generally adhered to the ancient understanding of primacy, often allowing some ambiguity in their relationship with the See of Rome.

Crisis in the Late Middle Ages

7th century witnessed the birth of Islam, which began to spread at lightning speed, which was facilitated by jihad- a holy war that allowed the Arabs to conquer the Persian Empire, which for a long time was a formidable rival of the Roman Empire, as well as the territories of the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Starting from this period, the patriarchs of the cities mentioned were often forced to entrust the management of the remaining Christian flock to their representatives, who stayed on the ground, while they themselves had to live in Constantinople. As a result of this, there was a relative decrease in the importance of these patriarchs, and the patriarch of the capital of the empire, whose see already at the time of the Council of Chalcedon (451) was placed in second place after Rome, thus became, to some extent, the highest judge of the Churches of the East.

With the advent of the Isaurian dynasty (717), an iconoclastic crisis broke out (726). The emperors Leo III (717–741), Constantine V (741–775) and their successors forbade the depiction of Christ and the saints and the veneration of icons. Opponents of the imperial doctrine, mostly monks, were thrown into prison, tortured, and killed, as in the time of pagan emperors.

The popes supported the opponents of iconoclasm and broke off communication with the iconoclast emperors. And they, in response to this, annexed Calabria, Sicily and Illyria (the western part of the Balkans and northern Greece), which until that time were under the jurisdiction of the Pope of Rome, to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

At the same time, in order to more successfully resist the offensive of the Arabs, the iconoclast emperors proclaimed themselves adherents of Greek patriotism, very far from the universalist "Roman" idea that had prevailed before, and lost interest in non-Greek areas of the empire, in particular, in northern and central Italy, claimed by the Lombards.

The legality of the veneration of icons was restored at the VII Ecumenical Council in Nicaea (787). After a new round of iconoclasm, which began in 813, Orthodox teaching finally triumphed in Constantinople in 843.

Communication between Rome and the empire was thus restored. But the fact that the iconoclast emperors limited their foreign policy interests to the Greek part of the empire led the popes to look for other patrons for themselves. Previously, the popes, who had no territorial sovereignty, were loyal subjects of the empire. Now, stung by the annexation of Illyria to Constantinople and left unprotected in the face of the invasion of the Lombards, they turned to the Franks and, to the detriment of the Merovingians, who had always maintained relations with Constantinople, began to contribute to the arrival of a new dynasty of Carolingians, bearers of other ambitions.

In 739, Pope Gregory III, seeking to prevent the Lombard king Luitprand from uniting Italy under his rule, turned to Major Charles Martel, who tried to use the death of Theodoric IV in order to eliminate the Merovingians. In exchange for his help, he promised to renounce all loyalty to the Emperor of Constantinople and take advantage of the patronage exclusively of the King of the Franks. Gregory III was the last pope to ask the emperor for approval of his election. His successors will already be approved by the Frankish court.

Karl Martel could not justify the hopes of Gregory III. However, in 754, Pope Stephen II personally went to France to meet Pepin the Short. In 756, he conquered Ravenna from the Lombards, but instead of returning Constantinople, he handed it over to the pope, laying the foundation for the soon formed Papal States, which turned the popes into independent secular rulers. In order to give a legal justification for the current situation, a famous forgery was developed in Rome - the Gift of Constantine, according to which Emperor Constantine allegedly transferred imperial powers over the West to Pope Sylvester (314-335).

On September 25, 800, Pope Leo III, without any participation of Constantinople, laid the imperial crown on the head of Charlemagne and named him emperor. Neither Charlemagne, nor later other German emperors, who to some extent restored the empire he had created, became co-rulers of the Emperor of Constantinople, in accordance with the code adopted shortly after the death of Emperor Theodosius (395). Constantinople repeatedly proposed a compromise solution of this kind that would preserve the unity of Romagna. But the Carolingian Empire wanted to be the only legitimate Christian empire and sought to take the place of the Constantinopolitan Empire, considering it obsolete. That is why the theologians from Charlemagne's entourage took the liberty of condemning the decrees of the 7th Ecumenical Council on the veneration of icons as tainted with idolatry and introducing filioque in the Nicene-Tsaregrad Creed. However, the popes soberly opposed these careless measures aimed at belittling the Greek faith.

However, the political break between the Frankish world and the papacy on the one hand and the ancient Roman Empire of Constantinople on the other was sealed. And such a break could not but lead to a proper religious schism, if we take into account the special theological significance that Christian thought attached to the unity of the empire, considering it as an expression of the unity of the people of God.

In the second half of the ninth century the antagonism between Rome and Constantinople manifested itself on a new basis: the question arose of what jurisdiction to include the Slavic peoples, who at that time were embarking on the path of Christianity. This new conflict also left a deep mark on the history of Europe.

At that time, Nicholas I (858–867) became pope, an energetic man who sought to establish the Roman concept of the dominance of the pope in the Universal Church, limit the interference of secular authorities in church affairs, and also fought against the centrifugal tendencies that manifested themselves among part of the Western episcopate. He backed up his actions with counterfeit decretals circulating shortly before, allegedly issued by previous popes.

In Constantinople, Photius (858-867 and 877-886) became patriarch. As modern historians have convincingly established, the personality of St. Photius and the events of the time of his reign were strongly vilified by his opponents. He was a very educated man, deeply devoted to the Orthodox faith, a zealous servant of the Church. He well understood how important the enlightenment of the Slavs was. It was on his initiative that Saints Cyril and Methodius went to enlighten the Great Moravian lands. Their mission in Moravia was eventually stifled and driven out by the intrigues of the German preachers. Nevertheless, they managed to translate liturgical and most important biblical texts into Slavic, creating an alphabet for this, and thus laid the foundation for the culture of the Slavic lands. Photius was also engaged in the education of the peoples of the Balkans and Rus'. In 864 he baptized Boris, Prince of Bulgaria.

But Boris, disappointed that he did not receive from Constantinople an autonomous church hierarchy for his people, turned for a while to Rome, receiving Latin missionaries. It became known to Photius that they preach the Latin doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit and seem to use the Creed with the addition filioque.

At the same time, Pope Nicholas I intervened in the internal affairs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, seeking the removal of Photius, in order to restore the former Patriarch Ignatius, who was deposed in 861, to the throne with the help of church intrigues. In response to this, Emperor Michael III and Saint Photius convened a council in Constantinople (867) , whose regulations were subsequently destroyed. This council, apparently, recognized the doctrine of filioque heretical, declared unlawful the intervention of the pope in the affairs of the Church of Constantinople and severed liturgical communion with him. And since Western bishops complained to Constantinople about the "tyranny" of Nicholas I, the council proposed to Emperor Louis the German to depose the pope.

As a result of a palace coup, Photius was deposed, and a new council (869-870), convened in Constantinople, condemned him. This cathedral is still considered in the West the VIII Ecumenical Council. Then, under Emperor Basil I, Saint Photius was returned from disgrace. In 879, a council was again convened in Constantinople, which, in the presence of the legates of the new pope John VIII (872-882), restored Photius to the throne. At the same time, concessions were made regarding Bulgaria, which returned to the jurisdiction of Rome, while retaining the Greek clergy. However, Bulgaria soon achieved ecclesiastical independence and remained in the orbit of Constantinople's interests. Pope John VIII wrote a letter to Patriarch Photius condemning the addition filioque into the Creed, without condemning the doctrine itself. Photius, probably not noticing this subtlety, decided that he had won. Contrary to persistent misconceptions, it can be argued that there was no so-called second Photius schism, and liturgical communion between Rome and Constantinople continued for more than a century.

Gap in the 11th century

11th century for the Byzantine Empire was truly "golden". The power of the Arabs was finally undermined, Antioch returned to the empire, a little more - and Jerusalem would have been liberated. The Bulgarian Tsar Simeon (893–927), who tried to create a Romano-Bulgarian empire that was beneficial to him, was defeated, the same fate befell Samuil, who raised an uprising to form a Macedonian state, after which Bulgaria returned to the empire. Kievan Rus, having adopted Christianity, quickly became part of the Byzantine civilization. The rapid cultural and spiritual upsurge that began immediately after the triumph of Orthodoxy in 843 was accompanied by the political and economic flourishing of the empire.

Oddly enough, the victories of Byzantium, including over Islam, were also beneficial to the West, creating favorable conditions for the emergence of Western Europe in the form in which it would exist for many centuries. And the starting point of this process can be considered the formation in 962 of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation and in 987 - France of the Capetians. Nevertheless, it was in the 11th century, which seemed so promising, that a spiritual rupture occurred between the new Western world and the Roman Empire of Constantinople, an irreparable split, the consequences of which were tragic for Europe.

From the beginning of the XI century. the name of the pope was no longer mentioned in the diptychs of Constantinople, which meant that communication with him was interrupted. This is the completion of the long process we are studying. It is not known exactly what was the immediate cause of this gap. Perhaps the reason was the inclusion filioque in the confession of faith sent by Pope Sergius IV to Constantinople in 1009 along with the notice of his accession to the throne of Rome. Be that as it may, but during the coronation of the German emperor Henry II (1014), the Creed was sung in Rome with filioque.

In addition to the introduction filioque there were also a number of Latin customs that revolted the Byzantines and increased the occasion for disagreement. Among them, the use of unleavened bread for the celebration of the Eucharist was especially serious. If in the first centuries leavened bread was used everywhere, then from the 7th-8th centuries the Eucharist began to be celebrated in the West using wafers made from unleavened bread, that is, without leaven, as the ancient Jews did on their Passover. Symbolic language was of great importance at that time, which is why the use of unleavened bread by the Greeks was perceived as a return to Judaism. They saw in this a denial of that novelty and that spiritual nature of the Savior's sacrifice, which were offered by Him instead of the Old Testament rites. In their eyes, the use of "dead" bread meant that the Savior in incarnation took only a human body, but not a soul...

In the XI century. the strengthening of papal power continued with greater force, which began as early as the time of Pope Nicholas I. The fact is that in the 10th century. the power of the papacy was weakened as never before, being the victim of the actions of various factions of the Roman aristocracy or being pressured by the German emperors. Various abuses spread in the Roman Church: the sale of church positions and the award of them to the laity, marriages or cohabitation among the priesthood ... But during the pontificate of Leo XI (1047-1054), a real reform of the Western Church began. The new pope surrounded himself with worthy people, mostly natives of Lorraine, among whom stood out Cardinal Humbert, Bishop of White Silva. The reformers saw no other means to remedy the disastrous state of Latin Christianity than to increase the power and authority of the pope. In their view, the papal power, as they understood it, should extend to the universal Church, both Latin and Greek.

In 1054, an event occurred that might have remained insignificant, but served as a pretext for a dramatic clash between the ecclesiastical tradition of Constantinople and the Western reformist movement.

In an effort to get help from the pope in the face of the threat of the Normans, who encroached on the Byzantine possessions of southern Italy, Emperor Constantine Monomachus, at the instigation of the Latin Argyrus, who was appointed by him as the ruler of these possessions, took a conciliatory position towards Rome and wished to restore unity, interrupted, as we have seen, at the beginning of the century . But the actions of the Latin reformers in southern Italy, infringing on Byzantine religious customs, worried the Patriarch of Constantinople Michael Cirularius. The papal legates, among whom was the adamant Bishop of White Silva, Cardinal Humbert, who arrived in Constantinople for negotiations on unification, planned to remove the intractable patriarch with the hands of the emperor. The matter ended with the legates placing a bull on the throne of Hagia Sophia excommunicating Michael Cirularius and his supporters. And a few days later, in response to this, the patriarch and the council he convened excommunicated the legates themselves from the Church.

Two circumstances gave the hasty and thoughtless act of the legates a significance that they could not appreciate at that time. First, they again raised the issue of filioque, wrongfully reproaching the Greeks for excluding it from the Creed, although non-Latin Christianity has always regarded this teaching as contrary to the apostolic tradition. In addition, the Byzantines became clear about the plans of the reformers to extend the absolute and direct authority of the pope to all bishops and believers, even in Constantinople itself. Presented in this form, ecclesiology seemed completely new to them and also could not but contradict the apostolic tradition in their eyes. Having familiarized themselves with the situation, the rest of the eastern patriarchs joined the position of Constantinople.

1054 should be seen less as the date of the split than as the year of the first failed attempt at reunification. No one then could have imagined that the division that occurred between those Churches that would soon be called Orthodox and Roman Catholic would last for centuries.

After the split

The schism was based mainly on doctrinal factors relating to different ideas about the mystery of the Holy Trinity and about the structure of the Church. Differences were also added to them in less important matters relating to church customs and rituals.

During the Middle Ages, the Latin West continued to develop in a direction that further removed it from the Orthodox world and its spirit.

On the other hand, there were serious events that further complicated the understanding between the Orthodox peoples and the Latin West. Probably the most tragic of them was the IV Crusade, which deviated from the main path and ended with the ruin of Constantinople, the proclamation of the Latin emperor and the establishment of the rule of the Frankish lords, who arbitrarily cut the land holdings of the former Roman Empire. Many Orthodox monks were expelled from their monasteries and replaced by Latin monks. All this probably happened unintentionally, yet this turn of events was a logical consequence of the creation of the western empire and the evolution of the Latin Church since the beginning of the Middle Ages.

Archimandrite Placida (Deseus) was born in France in 1926 into a Catholic family. In 1942, at the age of sixteen, he entered the Cistercian abbey of Belfontaine. In 1966, in search of the true roots of Christianity and monasticism, he founded, together with like-minded monks, a monastery of the Byzantine rite in Aubazine (Corrèze department). In 1977 the monks of the monastery decided to accept Orthodoxy. The transition took place on June 19, 1977; in February of the following year, they became monks at the Simonopetra monastery at Athos. Returning some time later to France, Fr. Plakida, together with the brethren who converted to Orthodoxy, founded four courtyards of the monastery of Simonopetra, the main of which was the monastery of St. Anthony the Great in Saint-Laurent-en-Royan (Drome department), in the Vercors mountain range. Archimandrite Plakida is an assistant professor of patrology in Paris. He is the founder of the series "Spiritualité orientale" ("Oriental Spirituality"), published since 1966 by the publishing house of the abbey of Belfontaine. Author and translator of many books on Orthodox spirituality and monasticism, the most important of which are: “The Spirit of Pahomiev Monasticism” (1968), “We Have Seen the True Light: Monastic Life, Its Spirit and Fundamental Texts” (1990), “The Philokalia” and Orthodox Spirituality "(1997), "Gospel in the Desert" (1999), "Babylonian Cave: Spiritual Guide" (2001), "Fundamentals of the Catechism" (in 2 volumes 2001), "Confidence in the Invisible" (2002), "Body - soul - spirit in the Orthodox sense" (2004). In 2006, the publishing house of the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University for the first time saw the publication of a translation of the book "Philokalia" and Orthodox Spirituality ". Those wishing to get acquainted with the biography of Fr. Plakidy recommend referring to the application in this book - an autobiographical note "Stages of Spiritual Journey". (Note per.) He is. Byzantium and Roman primacy. (Coll. Unam Sanctam. No. 49). Paris, 1964, pp. 93–110.

11 / 04 / 2007

Orthodoxy is one of the main branches of Christianity. Orthodoxy is believed to have originated in 33 AD. among the Greeks living in Jerusalem. Its founder was Jesus Christ. Of all the Christian denominations, Orthodoxy to the greatest extent retained the features and traditions of early Christianity. Orthodox believe in one God, acting in three hypostases - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

According to Orthodox teaching, Jesus Christ has a dual nature: Divine and Human. He was born (and not created) by God the Father before the creation of the world. In his earthly life, He was born as a result of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary from the Holy Spirit. Orthodox believe in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. For the sake of saving people, He came to Earth and was martyred on the cross. They believe in His resurrection and ascension into heaven and await His second coming and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on Earth. The Holy Spirit comes only from God the Father. Communion to the Church, one, holy, catholic and apostolic, takes place through baptism. These main provisions of the Orthodox dogma are contained in the Creed, adopted at the 1st (in 325 in Nicaea) and 2nd (381 in Constantinople) Ecumenical Councils, and have not changed since then, preserved in their original form, so that do not distort the faith. Orthodox believe in posthumous retribution - hell and heaven. The religious symbol is the cross (four-, six- and eight-pointed).

Orthodoxy recognizes seven sacraments (rites) - baptism, chrismation, communion (eucharist), confession (repentance), marriage, priesthood, anointing (unction). The evangelical sacraments - baptism and communion, established by Jesus Christ - stand out in particular. The Orthodox recognize both Holy Scripture (the Bible) and Holy Tradition, the living memory of the Church (in the narrow sense, the decrees of recognized church councils and the works of the Church Fathers of the 2nd-8th centuries).

In Orthodoxy, only the first seven Ecumenical Councils are recognized, which took place before the separation of the Western branch of Christianity (in 1054). There is no rigid church centralization in Orthodoxy. Large local churches are completely independent (autocephalous). Currently, 15 churches have autocephaly. Easter (the Resurrection of the Lord) is considered the biggest holiday in Orthodoxy. Another 12 holidays are considered the main, twelfth ones: Christmas; The Baptism of the Lord, or Epiphany; Meeting of the Lord; Transfiguration; Nativity of the Blessed Virgin; Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos; Introduction to the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos; Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos; Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord; Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem; Ascension of the Lord and Pentecost, or the Day of the Holy Trinity.

The total number of Orthodox Christians is 182 million people. Their largest number is in Russia - 70-80 million people.

Catholicism

Catholicism is one of the main directions in Christianity. The division of the Christian Church into Catholic and Orthodox took place in 1054-1204. In the XVI century. During the Reformation, Protestantism broke away from Catholicism.

The organization of the Catholic Church is characterized by strict centralization and hierarchical character. The head is the Pope of Rome, who is considered the successor of the Apostle Peter; 1st Vatican Council 1869-70 proclaimed the dogma of his infallibility. The Pope's residence is the Vatican. Sources of doctrine - Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, which includes, in addition to the ancient tradition and decisions of the first seven Ecumenical Councils (IV-VIII centuries), decisions of subsequent church councils, papal messages. In Catholicism, it is believed that the Holy Spirit proceeds not only from God the Father, but also from the Son (filioque); only in Catholicism is there a dogma of purgatory.

Catholics have developed the veneration of the Virgin Mary (in 1854 the dogma of her immaculate conception was proclaimed, in 1950 - of her bodily ascension), saints; the cult is characterized by a magnificent theatrical worship, the clergy are sharply separated from the laity.

Catholics make up the majority of believers in Australia, Belgium, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, France, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the western regions of Belarus, Ukraine, in Latin American states; only about 860 million people.

Encyclopedic Dictionary "World History"

Protestantism

Protestantism (literally - "publicly proving") is one of the main trends in Christianity. He broke away from Catholicism during the Reformation (XVI century). It unites many independent movements, churches, sects (Lutheranism, Calvinism, the Anglican Church, Methodists, Baptists, Adventists, etc.).

Protestantism is characterized by: the absence of a fundamental opposition of the clergy to the laity, the rejection of a complex church hierarchy, a simplified cult, the absence of monasticism, etc.; in Protestantism there is no cult of the Virgin, saints, angels, icons; the number of sacraments is reduced to two (baptism and communion). The main source of doctrine is Holy Scripture. Protestant churches play a major role in the ecumenical movement (for the unification of all churches). Protestantism is spread mainly in the USA, Great Britain, Germany, the Scandinavian countries and Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia), etc. The total number of adherents of Protestantism is about 600 million people.

Encyclopedic Dictionary "World History"

Monophysitism

Monophysitism (from the Greek mónos - one, phýsis - nature) is one of the 5 main directions of Christianity. Supporters of this direction are usually called Monophysites, although they do not recognize this term and call themselves either Orthodox or followers of the Apostolic Church.

The direction was formed in 433 in the Middle East, but officially separated from the rest of Christianity in 451, after the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon adopted the Diophysite doctrine (the doctrine of the two natures of Jesus Christ) and condemned Monophysitism as a heresy. The founder of the direction was Archimandrite Eutyches (about 378-454) - hegumen of one of the major monasteries in Constantinople.

Eutyches taught that at the beginning there were two separate natures of Christ - God and man, but after their union during the incarnation, only one began to exist. Subsequently, the apologists of Monophysitism either denied the presence of any human element in the nature of Christ at all, or maintained that the human nature in Christ was completely absorbed by the divine nature, or believed that the human and divine natures in Christ were united into something different from each of them.

However, there is an opinion that the main contradictions between Monophysitism and Orthodoxy were rather not doctrinal, but cultural, ethnic, and perhaps even political in nature: forces united in Monophysitism, dissatisfied with the strengthening of Byzantine influence.

Of the ecumenical councils of monophysitism, only the first three are recognized: Nicaea (325), Constantinople (381) and Ephesus (431).

The cult in the Monophysite churches is very close to the cult characteristic of Orthodoxy, differing from it only in certain details. It is difficult to give a general description of it, since it varies markedly in individual Monophysite denominations, the main of which are: 1) the Coptic Orthodox Church (including the Nubian and Ethiopian churches close to it), 2) the Syrian Orthodox (Jacobite) Church (including the Malankara province of the Syrian churches and the Malabar Syrian Church of Mar Thoma), 3) the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The total number of Monophysites reaches 36 million people. Monophysitism prevails in Armenia (it is also professed by the majority of Armenians living outside Armenia), is the most influential denomination in Ethiopia (the vast majority of Amhara adheres to it, most of the Tigrians), part of the population of some Arab countries (Egypt, Syria, etc.) belongs to it, a large group within the Malayali people in the Indian state of Kerala

P. I. Puchkov
Encyclopedia "Peoples and Religions of the World"

Nestorianism

Nestorianism is one of the 5 main branches of Christianity. It arose at the beginning of the 5th century. n. e. The founder is the monk Nestorius, who became the patriarch of Constantinople for a short time in 428-431. The doctrine of Nestorianism absorbed some elements of the doctrine of Arius, condemned at the First Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church (325), who rejected the divine nature of Jesus Christ.

The main dogmatic difference between Nestorianism and other branches of Christianity is its teaching that Christ was not the son of God, but was a man in whom God lived, and that the divine and human natures of Jesus Christ are separable from each other. In connection with this view, the mother of Christ - the Virgin Mary is considered among the Nestorians not the Mother of God, but the Mother of Christ and is not an object of veneration. At the III Ecumenical (Ephesus) Council (431), the doctrine of Nestorius was condemned as heresy, he himself was exiled, and his books were burned.

As in Orthodoxy, Monophysitism and Catholicism, 7 sacraments are recognized in Nestorianism, however, not all of them are identical to those accepted by the 3 indicated areas of Christianity. The sacraments of the Nestorians are baptism, priesthood, communion, chrismation, repentance, as well as the holy leaven (malka) and the sign of the cross that they have only. The sacrament of the holy leaven is connected with the Nestorian belief that a piece of bread distributed at the Last Supper by Jesus Christ was brought by the Apostle Thaddeus (Judas) to the East, to Mesopotamia, and some particle of it was constantly used in the preparation of the elements of the sacrament. Considered a sacrament in Nestorianism, the sign of the cross is performed in a very specific way.

The Nestorians use the liturgy of St. Thaddeus (an apostle of 12) and St. Mark (an apostle from 70), which the latter introduced when they arrived in the East from Jerusalem. The Liturgy is celebrated in Old Syriac (in its Nestorian version). In Nestorian churches, unlike Orthodox, Monophysite and Catholic ones, there are no icons and statues.

The Nestorian is headed by the Patriarch-Catholicos of the whole East (currently Mar-Dinha IV), who has a residence in Tehran, and this position has been hereditary in the Mar-Shimun family since 1350 (the nephew inherits his uncle). In 1972, a split occurred in the leadership of the Nestorian church, and part of the Iraqi and Indian Nestorians recognized Mar Addai, whose seat was in Baghdad, as their spiritual head. Metropolitans and bishops are subordinate to the patriarch. The position of priests is also hereditary. Priests are not required to be celibate and, unlike the white Orthodox clergy, may marry after ordination. Deacons help the priests to perform divine services and ceremonies.

The number of followers of the Nestorian Assyrian Church of the East is about 200 thousand people. Nestorians settled in Iraq (82 thousand), Syria (40 thousand), India (15 thousand), Iran (13 thousand), USA (10 thousand), Russia (10 thousand), Georgia (6 thousand people). ), Armenia (6 thousand) and other countries. Nestorians began to move to the Russian Empire, the USA and some other countries from the 90s. last century after the pogroms committed in the Ottoman Empire.

By nationality, the vast majority of Nestorians (except those living in India) are Assyrians, Indian Nestorians are Malayali.

The Holy Synod of the Church of Constantinople canceled the decree of 1686 on the transfer of the Kyiv Metropolis to the Moscow Patriarchate. Not far off is the granting of autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

There have been many schisms in the history of Christianity. It all began not even with the Great Schism of 1054, when the Christian Church was divided into Orthodox and Catholic, but much earlier.

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The papal schism in history is also called the Great Western. It happened due to the fact that almost at the same time two people were declared popes at once. One is in Rome, the other is in Avignon, the site of the seventy-year captivity of the popes. Actually, the end of the Avignon captivity led to disagreements.

Two popes were elected in 1378

In 1378, Pope Gregory XI died, interrupting the captivity, and after his death, the supporters of the return elected Pope Urban VI in Rome. The French cardinals, who opposed the withdrawal from Avignon, made Clement VII pope. The whole of Europe was divided. Some countries supported Rome, some supported Avignon. This period lasted until 1417. The popes who ruled at that time in Avignon are now among the antipopes of the Catholic Church.

The first schism in Christianity is considered to be the Akakian schism. The split began in 484 and lasted 35 years. The controversy flared up around the "Enotikon" - the religious message of the Byzantine emperor Zeno. It was not the emperor himself who worked on this message, but the Patriarch Akakii of Constantinople.

Akakian schism - the first split in Christianity

In dogmatic matters, Akaki did not agree with Pope Felix III. Felix deposed Akakiy, Akakiy ordered that the name of Felix be deleted from the funeral diptychs.

The disintegration of the Christian Church into the Catholic with its center in Rome and the Orthodox with its center in Constantinople was brewing long before the final division in 1054. The harbinger of the events of the XI century was the so-called Photius schism. This schism, dating from 863-867, was named after Photius I, the then patriarch of Constantinople.

Photius and Nikolai excommunicated each other from the church

Photius' relationship with Pope Nicholas I was, to put it mildly, strained. The pope intended to strengthen the influence of Rome in the Balkan Peninsula, but this caused resistance from the patriarch of Constantinople. Nicholas also appealed to the fact that Photius had become patriarch unlawfully. It all ended with the church leaders anathematizing each other.

The tension between Constantinople and Rome grew and grew. Mutual discontent resulted in the Great Schism of 1054. The Christian Church was then finally divided into Orthodox and Catholic. This happened under the Patriarch of Constantinople Michael I Cerularia and Pope Leo IX. It got to the point that in Constantinople they threw out and trampled prosphora prepared in the Western manner - without leaven.

Religion is the spiritual component of life, according to many. Now there are many different beliefs, but in the center there are always two directions that attract the most attention. The Orthodox and Catholic churches are the most extensive and global in the religious world. But once it was one single church, one faith. It is rather difficult to judge why and how the division of churches took place, because only historical information has survived to this day, but nevertheless certain conclusions can be drawn from them.

Split

Officially, the collapse occurred in 1054, it was then that two new religious directions appeared: Western and Eastern, or, as they are also commonly called, Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic. Since then, it is believed that adherents of the Eastern religion are orthodox and orthodox. But the reason for the division of religions began to emerge long before the ninth century, and gradually led to great divisions. The division of the Christian Church into Western and Eastern was quite expected on the basis of these conflicts.

Disagreements between churches

The ground for the great schism was laid on all sides. The conflict touched almost all spheres. The churches could not find agreement either in rites, or in politics, or in culture. The nature of the problems was ecclesiological and theological, and it was no longer possible to hope for a peaceful solution to the issue.

Differences in politics

The main problem of the conflict on political grounds was the antagonism between the emperors of Byzantium and the popes. When the church was in its infancy and rising to its feet, the whole of Rome was a single empire. Everything was one - politics, culture, and only one ruler stood at the head. But from the end of the third century, political differences began. Still remaining a single empire, Rome was divided into several parts. The history of the division of churches directly depends on politics, because it was Emperor Constantine who initiated the schism by founding a new capital on the eastern side of Rome, known in our time as Constantinople.

Naturally, the bishops began to be based on the territorial position, and since it was there that the See of the Apostle Peter was founded, they decided that it was time to declare themselves and gain more power, to become the dominant part of the entire Church. And the more time passed, the more ambitiously the bishops perceived the situation. The western church was seized with pride.

In turn, the popes defended the rights of the church, did not depend on the state of politics, and sometimes even opposed the imperial opinion. But what was the main reason for the division of churches on political grounds was the coronation of Charlemagne by Pope Leo III, while the Byzantine successors to the throne completely refused to recognize the rule of Charles and openly considered him a usurper. Thus, the struggle for the throne was also reflected in spiritual affairs.