View source for East-West Schism

Not to be confused with the Schism of 1378.

The East–West Schism (also the Great Schism or Schism of 1054) is the break of communion since the 11th century between the [[Catholic Church]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]. The schism was the culmination of theological and political differences which had developed during the preceding centuries between Eastern and Western Christianity.

== History ==
The schism between the Western and Eastern Mediterranean Christians resulted from a variety of political, cultural and theological factors which transpired over centuries. Historians regard the mutual excommunications of 1054 as the terminal event. It is difficult to agree on a date for the event where the start of the schism was apparent. It may have started as early as the{{fact}} Quartodeciman controversy at the time of Victor of Rome (c. 180). Orthodox apologists point to this incident as an example of claims by Rome to the papal primacy and its rejection by Eastern Churches.

Sporadic schisms in the common unions took place under Pope Damasus I in the 4th and 5th centuries. Disputes about theological and other questions led to schisms between the Churches in [[Rome]] and [[Constantinople]] for 37 years from 482 to 519 (the Acacian Schism). Most sources agree that the separation between East and West is clearly evident by the Photian schism in 863 to 867.

== See of Constantinople ==
In 330, Emperor Constantine moved the imperial capital to Byzantium, which later became Constantinople. The centre of gravity in the empire was fully recognised to have completely shifted to the eastern Mediterranean. Rome lost the Senate to Constantinople and lost its status and gravitas as imperial capital.

The bishop of Byzantium was under the authority of the metropolitan of Heraclea when in 330 Roman Emperor [[Constantine I]] moved his residence to this town, which, rebuilt on a larger scale, became known as Constantinople. Thereafter, the bishop's connection with the imperial court meant that he was able to free himself from ecclesiastical dependency on Heraclea and in little more than half a century to obtain recognition of next-after-Rome ranking from the [[First Council of Constantinople]] (381), held in the new capital. It decreed: "The Bishop of Constantinople, however, shall have the prerogative of honour after the Bishop of Rome; because Constantinople is New Rome", thus raising it above the sees of Alexandria and Antioch. This has been described as sowing the seed for the ecclesiastical rivalry between Constantinople and Rome that was a factor leading to the schism between East and West. The website of the Orthodox Church in America says that the Bishop of Byzantium was elevated to Patriarch already in the time of Constantine.