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The Great Schism
Filioque
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Reconciliation:
Doctrines and differences
Iconoclastic Controversy
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The Great Schism
: Eastern Orthodox-Western Roman Catholic: There are two so called "Great
Schism":
1- This one, the separation of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern
Orthodoxy.
Eastern Orthodoxy and Western
Roman Catholicism
2- The second one, also called "Great Schism" is the presence of three popes
in the 14th century.
The East-West Schism: The problem here started with Photius in the Ninth Century, and the Iconoclastic controversy in the Eight Century. Brewing for centuries, rupture finally comes to a head in 1054, with the fissure that has lasted to this day.
"Filioque"... the "Separation":
Orthodox and Catholics separated officially in 1054... the real reason was the "supremacy of the Pope in the Church", the "successor of Peter".
However, "Filioque" was the spark, the actual reason, or rather, the "excuse" for the separation.
"Filioque" in Latin means "and from the Son". The Orthodox said that the Holy Spirit proceeds "from the Father"; the Catholics said the Holy Spirit proceeds "from the Father and from the Son" (Filioque)... and this was the theological "excuse" for their separation...
... The "Holy Spirit" is the love the Father has for the Son, and the love the Son has for the Father... so, proceeds from the Father and from the Son... some Orthodox claim now, "from the Father with the Son"... so, a "with" or an "and"...
Photius (c. 820-895), a renowned scholar and layman, made Patriarch of Constantinople in 858. Later deposed and reinstated at least twice. Conflicts with pope and Rome over spiritual jurisdiction and doctrine ("filioque controversy") foreshadow deepening rift and eventual split between churches in East and West in the 11th century.
The "official" schism in
1054 was the excommunication of Patriarch
Michael Cerularius
of Constantinople, followed by his excommunication of the pope's representative.
The personal excommunications were mutually rescinded by the Pope and the
Patriarch of Constantinople in the 1960s, although the schism is not at all
healed.
One sometimes sees it asserted either that the Eastern Orthodox Church or
the Roman Catholic Church was founded at the time of this great schism. That is
false. The
One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church
was ruled by five patriarchs: those of
Rome,
Constantinople,
Antioch,
Alexandria,
and
Jerusalem,
each having authority over bishops in a specified geographic territory. Although
the five split from each other, none was a newly founded organization. Each
group took (and still today takes) the view that it is the One Holy Catholic and
Apostolic Church and the other group left that church at the time of the schism.
The "Pope":
To "Peter"... and "only to Peter"
To "Peter", and only to "Peter", in front of the other apostles, Jesus promised the "keys of the kingdom of Heaven", and only to him personally Jesus promised "infallibility", in front of the others (Matt.16:18-19)... and gave them to Peter.
To "Peter", and only to "Peter", in front of the other apostles, Jesus ordered, "feed my sheep, my lambs"... the sheep and Lsmbs of Jesus! (Jn.21:15-17).
"The conscience of the Church": Instead of the "Pope", the "successor of Peter", the Eastern Church holds that God's truth is disclosed through "the conscience of the Church", meaning "the consensus of Christians in general"... the conscience of the people is the conscience of the Church... and the Holy Spirit preserves Christians minds as a whole from lapsing into error... (Mat.18:18) - The
Orthodox do not accept the supremacy of the Pope, as the only successor of
Peter, and this is the real issue for the split.
- The Orthodox do not have a central authority, no one even claims to be the
successor of "Peter", with the immense authority given to him, and only to him
and his successors!, by Jesus in Matt.16, Jn.21 and Acts.1-9.,
- If the Orthodox could accept the authority of the Pope, as the successor
of Peter, all the other differences would be immediately eliminated.
David and Peter: The shepherds of the People of God:
Jesus did with "Peter" what God had done
with "David":
1- In Ezekiel 34 God says repeatedly "I myself will look after and tend
my sheep"... "I myself will pasture my sheep" (34:11-15)... but in verse
23, God says: "I will appoint one shepherd over my sheep to pasture them, my
servant David; he shall pasture my sheep and be their shepherd"... and so,
he who is loyal to David or his successors, belongs to the People of God, and he
who is not loyal to David or his successors, does not belong to the People of
God, even if he is a Jew born in Jerusalem, rather he is a rebel, or a heretic
("heretic" means "rebel")
2- Jesus did the same: In John 10 he repeats "I am the shepherd... I am
the good shepherd"... but in John 21, after resurrection, Jesus says 3
times to Peter, and only to Peter, in front of the other Apostles, "feed my
lambs... tend my sheep... feed my sheep" (John 21:15-17)... "my lambs"...
"my sheep"... the lambs and sheep of Jesus!... so now, accordingly, he who is
loyal to Peter or his successors, belongs to the only Church of Christ, and he
who is not loyal to Peter or his successors, does not belong to the Church of
Christ, even if he knows all the Bible by heart, he is a rebel, or a heretic...
The Primacy of Peter in the NT:
"Peter" was chosen by Jesus to be
the "leader" of the 12, and of the whole Church of Christ, only Peter, in front
of the other Apostles:
- In Matt.16, Jesus promised Peter the primacy
- In John 21, Jesus gave it to him.
- In Acts, Peter exercised it.
1- In Matt.16:19: "I
will give you, Peter, the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever
you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven".
Here, Jesus offers to Peter, 2
things:
1- Jesus offers Peter, and only to Peter, the "keys of the kingdom", in
front of the other 11 Apostles.
2- Jesus promises Peter "infallibility"...
if whatever he binds or looses on earth, shall be bound or loosed in heaven, it
is because whatever he binds or looses it is the truth, "infallible", "without
any possibility of error"!.
A friend of mine told me, it is impossible,
because no one is infallible on earth... but then, he agreed with me that when
Matthew or Solomon wrote the Bible, they were "infallible", it is the word of
God!... so, hundreds of people were infallible, when they wrote the Bible!...
... And to John, Luke, or David, God did not
promised infallibility to write the Bible... but to Peter, Jesus promised
directly "infallibility", in whatever he binds or looses on earth!...
... The Holy Spirit who inspired the authors
of the Bible, is the same one who inspires Peter when he binds or looses on
earth!.
2- In John 21:15-17:In
his last apparition to the Apostles after resurrection, "Jesus said to Simon
Peter... feed "my" lambs... a second time... tend "my" sheep... the third
time... feed "my" sheep"...
The other Apostles were there, but only to
Peter Jesus gave the order: Feed and tend my lambs and sheep... "my" sheep!...
those of Jesus!.
3- In Acts: Peter
exercises his "supremacy". He is the one talking, when all the Apostles are
present. The first 11 chapters of Acts, report 8 rather long sermons of Peter
(1:15, 2:14, 3:12, 4:8, 5:29, 8:20, 10:34, 11:4).
- Another important fact in Acts:
When Judas died, the other Apostles decided
to name one to do the job Judas was supposed to do, "to take the place in
this ministry and apostleship which Judas abandoned... and they choose Matthias,
who was added to the 11 apostles" (Act.1:15-26)... you can be sure that
when Peter died, the other apostles did the same, they choose one to do the job
Peter was supposed to do... the actual Pope John Paul II is the 262 successor of
Peter... and the Catholic Church is the only one to claim a successor of Peter!.
The supremacy of the "successor of Peter" is the real controversy... the "Pope" must be the center of the dialogue for reconciliation, with lots of prayer and humility.
Serious efforts for reconciliation have been made recently: Pope Paul VI met with the Patriarch of Constantinople, Athenagoras, in 1964. Pope John Paul II also visited Constantinople in 1967... but for now, any reconciliation seems far off... lots of prayers and humility are needed, and mostly the Grace of God.
Orthodox-Catholic Reconciliation
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/33/story_3380_1.html
http://www.scoba.us/resources/millennium.asp
What's Next, Orthodox perspective
"DOCTRINES"... and "DIFFERENCES
":In most ways the Eastern Orthodox Church stands close to the Roman Catholic Church, for during more than half their history they were formally a unit. It honors the same 7 Sacraments, with fundamentally the same interpretation.
They have some differences, and the two main ones are: The "Pope", and the "Church as Teaching Authority".
1- The "Pope":
The Orthodox do not have a central authority, no one even claims to be the successor of "Peter", with the immense authority given to him, and only to him and his successors!, by Jesus in Matt.16, Jn.21, Acts.1-9... as we already commented, "Organization of the Church".
They do not accept the supremacy of the Pope, as the only successor of Peter.
If the Orthodox could accept the authority of the Pope, as the successor of Peter, all the other differences would be immediately eliminated.
I fervently pray for the "union" of Catholics and Orthodox, to fulfill the prophecy of Jesus, "and there will be only one flock, one shepherd" (Jn.10:16)... because there is only one "Noah's Ark", only one David should be the shepherd of the only one flock of Christ... only one Body... only one tree... only one building...
But it was not the conscience of the Church who gave as the Bible, it was the Pope St. Damasus, as we commented in the "Holy Scriptures" of Christianity (Pag.300)... the list of the books given by Pope St. Damasus is the one used in the Orthodox Bible... if the Pope is not good, the Bible is not good!.
2- "Church as Teaching Authority":
Here is a big difference with the Catholic Church: Since the Orthodox don't have the successor of Peter, there is not "teaching authority" in the Eastern Church.
Orthodox proclaim "The conscience of the Church": Instead of the "Pope", the "successor of Peter", the Eastern Church holds that God's truth is disclosed through "the conscience of the Church", meaning "the consensus of Christians in general"... the conscience of the people is the conscience of the Church... and the Holy Spirit preserves Christians minds as a whole from lapsing into error... (Mat.18:18)
In fact, they only accept the teachings of the first Seven Ecumenical Councils, up to the Council of Nicea in 787... for the last 1,200 years the Eastern Church has not exercised her rights as teaching authority... no declaration of dogmas or heresies, neither from any Ecumenical Council, nor from the successor of Peter with the authority to tie or untie with infallibility, of Matt.16:19.
All the teaching authority of the Eastern Church stopped in fact in 787... at the time when it was united with the Catholic Church...
About "Virgin Mary": The Orthodox love her and venerate her as the Mother of God and as Virgin, the two dogmas proclaimed before their separation from the Catholics... they don't have the other 3 dogmas proclaimed after 787, the Assumption, the Immaculate Conception, and Mother of the Church.
About "Purgatory": It was a doctrine and dogma fully developed in the Catholic Church after the separation of the Orthodox... so the Eastern Church does not have a clear doctrine of "Purgatory": If your Orthodox mother or husband or daughter dies, your prayers for them are good for nothing; because if they are saved, your prayers for them are obsolete; and it they are condemned, your prayers for them are also obsolete.
"No Canonization of Saints": The Orthodox have "Saints", but no formal process of canonization and beatification... because they do not have the successor of Peter, with the "keys of the Kingdom of Heaven", of Matt.16:19... so, nobody in the Eastern Church can say with infallibility who is in Heaven now!... in fact, there are not "Saints" in the Eastern Church since their separation from the Catholics.... they got stock with just the old ones they had when united with the Catholics.
The supremacy of the "successor of Peter" is the real controversy... the "Pope" must be the center of the dialogue for reconciliation, with lots of prayer and humility.
Serious efforts for reconciliation have been made recently: Pope Paul VI met with the Patriarch of Constantinople, Athenagoras, in 1964. Pope John Paul II also visited Constantinople in 1967... but for now, any reconciliation seems far off... lots of prayers and humility are needed, and mostly the Grace of God.
Orthodox-Catholic Reconciliation
The "Iconoclastic Controversy":
"Icon" means "image" in Greek, either paintings, mosaics, or statues... The East did not wanted Icons, like the Jews and Muslims... defeated in Nicea in 787... they do have now beautiful uni-dimensional Icons.
The Iconoclastic Controversy occurred between the mid-8th century and the mid-9th century in the Byzantine Christian Church over the question of whether or not Christians should continue to revere icons. Most unsophisticated believers tended to revere icons (thus they were called iconodules), but many political and religious leaders wanted to have them smashed because they believed that venerating icons was a form of idolatry (they were called iconoclasts).
In 724 the beginning
of the Iconoclastic Controversy over
the veneration of images divides the Byzantine Emperor and the Pope. St. John of
Damascene, a Doctor of the Church, made a remarkable work in defense of icons.
In
787 the Second Council of
Nicea condemned the Iconoclastic error.
King Theophilus died leaving his wife Theodora regent for his minor heir, Michael III. Like Irene 50 years before her, Theodora mobilized the iconodules and proclaimed the restoration of icons in 843. Since that time the first Sunday of Lent is celebrated in the churches of the Orthodox tradition as the feast of the "Triumph of Orthodoxy".
The "Icons" may represent the "Mystical Experience" every Orthodox wants to obtain...
... and the long suffering... with the steady and distinguished cultural and social work of the Eastern Church for centuries.
The "Orthodox Theology" is mostly "apophatic", stressing what is not known, rather than "kataphatic", emphasizing what is known.
- Iconoclastic Controversy
19 Churches:(See Diagram)
They are today 15 "self-governing church bodies", and 4 "autonomous groups", plus thee "Moscow Patriarchate" as the fifth Patriarchate.
1- Patriarchates: Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Moscow.
2- Autocephalous Churches:
Russia (88 mill.), Romania (17 mill.), Greece (8
mill.), Serbia (7 mill.), Bulgaria (6 Mill.), Georgia (1 mill.), Poland (0.6
mill.), Cyprus (0.5 mill.), Czechoslovakia (0.2 mill.), Albania, Sinai (0.1
mill.)
They are in full communion with one another, and their members think of
themselves as belonging primarily to the Eastern Church, and secondarily to
their particular division within it
They have "no central authority", no one claims to be the successor of Peter
(Matt.16:19).
The "Patriarch of Constantinople" is the first in honor among equals in
jurisdiction.
The "Russian Church", with 88 million members, is the largest, so the
Patriarch of Moscow became the "fifth Patriarchate", and with the "Russian
Diaspora", has spread the Orthodox to America and Western Europe.
The "Greeks", though only 8 million, have increased the Eastern presence in
the West.
3- Separated Churches:
Some Eastern groups they are "not in communion" with the Orthodox, because of their emphasis in the divine nature of Jesus, at the expense of being also fully "man" (the mono-physitism heresy condemned at Chalcedon):
The "Coptic Orthodox Church"
in Egypt, its first center, most Christians belong to it, with 10 million
The "Church of Armenia", with its important offshoot in the U.S.A., belongs
today to Oriental rather to Eastern Christianity.
The ancient "Church of Ethiopia".
The "Church of the Assyrians", decimated in Irak in the World Wars, with the
present Patriarch living in the U.S.A.
4- The "Uniate" Churches: (Orthodox Catholics):
Some churches maintain their traditional Eastern rites and liturgies, but recognize the supremacy of the Pope, and obey him, like the Ukrainian, Rumanian, Maronite in Lebanon, India...
- A "Patriarch", in the Catholic Church, is a "Bishop", subject only to the Pope, and he is the head of the faithful belonging to his rite throughout the world. In 1994, there were 8:
1- Alexandria, for the
Copts.
2- Three in Antioch: One for the Syrians. One for the Greek Melkites. One
for the Maronite.
3- Babylon, for the Chaldeans.
4- Cilicia, for the Armenians.
5- Jerusalem, for the Latin Rite.
6- East Indies (Goa, Damao...).
- Orthodox Church of
America: 600,000
- Armenian Diocese: 414,000
- Antiochian Archdioceses: 350,000
- Coptic Church: 180,000
- Armenian Apostolic: 150,000
- Others (8 denominations): 191,000
(1995 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches)
THE "MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST":All Christians accept the view of the Church as the "Mystical Body of Christ", where Christ is the head, and each Christian is a member of that Body (1Cor.12, Rom.12, Ef.4, Col.1)... But I think it is safe to say that the Orthodox have taken it more seriously than other Churches:
- For them, each Christian is working out his salvation with the rest of the Church, not individually to save his own soul. "A man can be damned alone, but he can only be saved with others", says the Russian branch.
- And still more: The eastern Church takes seriously the theme of St. Paul that the "entire universe is groaning and in travail as it awaits redemption": Each individual is responsible for helping to sanctify the entire world of nature.
As a consequence, the Orthodox Church rests many of her decisions in the "laity". For example, the layman of each congregation elect their own clergymen; without such election, the Bishop is powerless to appoint them.
- The clergy has its uninfringeable domain, the administration of Sacraments; but beyond these the line that separates them from the laity is thin.
- The "priests" may be married, but monks and nuns may not. However widows may become monks or nuns. All bishops must be monks.
MYSTICAL EMPHASIS:
The Eastern Church encourages the mystical life for everybody, clergy and laity. Man can be "deified" by the grace of God. The "experience" of deification is said to be accompanied by a miraculous burst of light, or a vision of light, or a vision, like that of St. Paul (Act.9).
- Dionysius, the Pseudo-Areopagite, a great theologian, wrote the "Mystical Theology", in order to influence even the Catholic mystics, such as St. Bernard and St. Thomas Aquinas.
- The Eastern Basillian monks also reflect this respect for "mystical experiences" as having value over rational study for receiving knowledge about God... and most monks are common laymen...
- "Monasticism", first developed in the Egyptian desert and the Syrian hinterland, and remains a potent force in the Oriental churches to this day, under the rules made by St. Basil the Great.
JOYFUL LITURGY:
The Eastern temples use gold and colorful decorations... the very best for God... the altars, ornamentations, and vestments, are full of life, ready for the emotional displays of the long, very pious, liturgical services, where the lay people participate actively, singing, usually standing during all the service, as the priests do... and singing without instrumental accompaniment.
- There are 3 liturgies: The Liturgy of St. John Chriysostom (used most often); the Liturgy of St. Basil, and the Liturgy of St. Gregory.
- The "Eucharist", known as the "Holy Liturgy", is the highest expression of Christian worship, celebrated by a priest, but with active participation of the laymen, singing, reading the Bible, preaching... every Sunday is full of the joy of Easter Sunday, celebrating Christ's resurrection.
- The church "building", represents the universe, that has to be saved in its nature and history. They use a Greek cross floor plan, with the 4 arms of equal length, each one placed in alignment with the compass points: The East side represents Paradise; the West side represents the land of the dead who are awaiting the day of resurrection; the center represents the earth, over which is the sky or the dome which so identifies a Greek Church.
The "Icons", literally "images" in Greek, are beautiful, and they are not the feelings of the artist, but the feelings of the Church... this corporate feelings of the Eastern Church is reflected in everything.
"SUFFERING" CHURCH": The Orthodox has been a "suffering" Church, with persecutions and restrictions, perhaps beyond any other: With the Huns, Tartars, Turks, Islam, Hitler, Communism...
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