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1054 AD The Great Schism Divides the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church

1054 AD The Great Schism Divides the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church

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 1054 AD The Great Schism Divides the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church Published 8/20/2025 50-Word Description In 1054, the Christian church split into Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox branches over authority, worship, and pride. Pope Leo IX’s legate excommunicated Patriarch Michael Cerularius in Constantinople, formalizing centuries of tension. This episode explores the Great Schism’s causes, consequences, and lessons for unity today. 150-Word Description In 1054, the Great Schism divided Christianity into Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Pope Leo IX’s legate, Humbert, excommunicated Patriarch Michael Cerularius in Constantinople’s Hagia Sophia, citing disputes over papal authority, communion bread, and creed wording. Rooted in centuries of cultural and political drift, the split deepened with the 1204 Crusade’s sacking of Constantinople. Despite 1965 reconciliation attempts, the divide persists. The Schism warns of pride and division, urging believers to guard unity, as Jesus prayed in John 17. This episode traces the fracture and challenges modern Christians to pursue oneness. Keywords (500 characters) Great Schism, 1054, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Constantinople, Rome, Pope Leo IX, Michael Cerularius, Hagia Sophia, excommunication, Fourth Crusade, papal authority, Filioque, church unity, Byzantine Empire, medieval Christianity, ecclesiastical history, Christian division, reconciliation, John 17, church councils Hashtags (five words) #GreatSchism #ChurchUnity #1054 #Orthodox #Catholic Transcript The year was 1054, and the Christian world was about to split apart. For centuries, Christians in the East and West had worshiped the same Christ, confessed the same creed, and shared the same Scriptures. But under the surface, tension had been building like cracks in glass—small disagreements about language, worship, and leadership that stretched across continents. In the West, believers looked to Rome—the Roman Catholic Church—where the Pope claimed to sit in the seat of Peter. In the East, they looked to Constantinople—the capital of the Eastern Orthodox Church—with its grand tradition of worship and the Emperor’s protection. Most everyday Christians didn’t think about these things. They prayed, sang, took communion, baptized their children, and lived out their faith. But church leaders on both sides grew more suspicious of each other. Then, in 1054, everything snapped. A papal messenger—Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida—walked into the Hagia [HAH-jee-uh] Sophia in Constantinople. In front of the congregation, he laid down a bull of excommunication—an official letter cutting the Eastern leaders off from the church. The East responded in kind. And the one Body of Christ was torn apart. What caused this Great Schism? Was it theology? Politics? Pride? And more haunting—what does it mean for us today, a thousand years later, when Christians still divide and walk away from each other? From the That’s Jesus Channel, welcome to COACH—where we explore Church Origins and Church History. I’m Bob Baulch. And on Wednesdays, we stay between 500 and 1500 AD. Today, we’re stepping into one of the most painful moments in Christian history: the year 1054—the Great Schism. Up until this point, Christianity in the East and West had its differences, but still considered itself one church. The Roman Catholic Church in the West and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the East shared the same Bible, the same creeds, and the same Lord. But their unity was fragile. They argued about leadership. Should all churches submit to the Pope in Rome? Or should each major city have its own independence, as in the East? They clashed over worship. Should bread for communion be leavened—soft and risen, as in the East—or unleavened, like the West used? They even fought over words. In the West, a phrase was added to the creed about the Holy Spirit proceeding from both the Father and the Son. The East saw that as tampering with the faith. For centuries, these disputes simmered. But in 1054, they boiled over. An exchange of excommunications—letters declaring the other side outside the church—formalized a split that remains to this day. The question is: was this inevitable? Or could it have been avoided? And perhaps most importantly: what does the Great Schism teach us about how fragile unity really is? To understand why the Great Schism happened in 1054, we need to go back much earlier. The Roman Empire had once united the whole Mediterranean world under one ruler. But in 285 AD, Emperor Diocletian split it into East and West. Later emperors kept that pattern. Rome remained the capital in the West, while Constantinople—the city built by Constantine—became the capital of the East. That political split eventually created cultural and spiritual distance. In the West, centered in Rome, Christians used Latin. The Pope in Rome grew in influence as emperors ...
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