Although in 1965 the mutual anathemas were lifted and Catholics and Orthodox no longer look askance at each other, proclaiming the idea of ​​common roots and principles, in reality differences still remain.

So, what is the difference between Catholics and Orthodox Christians? It turns out that the point is not at all that some cross themselves from right to left, and others vice versa (however, this is also the case). The essence of the contradictions is much deeper.

1. Catholics venerate the Virgin Mary precisely as a Virgin, while Orthodox Christians see her primarily as the Mother of God. In addition, Catholics postulate the fact that the Virgin Mary was as immaculately conceived as Christ. From the point of view of Catholics, she was ascended alive to heaven during her lifetime, while Orthodox Christians even have an apocryphal story about the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. And this is not the Hicks Boson, the existence of which you can believe or not, and this does not prevent you from conducting research and someday getting to the bottom of the truth. Here is a fundamental question - if you doubt the postulate of faith, then you cannot be considered a full-fledged believer.

2. Among Catholics, all priests must observe celibacy - they are forbidden to have sex, much less get married. Among the Orthodox, the clergy is divided into black and white. That is, this is why deacons and priests can and even must marry, be fruitful and multiply, while sex is prohibited for the black clergy (monks). At all. It is believed that only monastics can achieve the highest ranks and titles in Orthodoxy. Sometimes, in order to be promoted to bishop, local priests have to part with their wives. The best way to do this is to send your wife to a monastery.

3. Catholics recognize the existence (besides hell and heaven) of purgatory - where the soul, recognized as not too sinful, but also not righteous, is properly fried and bleached before it manages to penetrate the gates of heaven. Orthodox Christians do not believe in purgatory. However, their ideas about heaven and hell are generally vague - it is believed that knowledge about them is closed to humans in earthly life. Catholics long ago calculated the thickness of all nine paradise crystal vaults, compiled a list of plants growing in paradise, and even measured in honey measures the sweetness experienced by the tongue of the soul that first inhaled the aromas of paradise.

4. The essential point concerns the main prayer of Christians, the “Symbol of Faith.” Listing what exactly the adept believes in, he says “in the Holy Spirit, the life-giving Lord, who proceeds from the Father.” Unlike the Orthodox, Catholics also add “and from the Son” here. A question on which many theologians have broken spears.

5. At communion, Catholics eat unleavened bread, while Orthodox Christians eat bread made from leavened dough. It would seem that here we can meet each other, but who will take the first step?

6. During baptism, Catholics only pour water on children and adults, but in Orthodoxy it is necessary to plunge headlong into the font. Therefore, large babies who do not fit completely into the children's font, as a result of which the priest is forced to pour a handful of water on the protruding parts of their body, are called “drenched” in Orthodoxy. It is believed, although unofficially, that demons have more power over Oblivanians than over those who are normally baptized.

7. Catholics cross themselves from left to right and with all five fingers joined together. At the same time, they do not reach to the stomach, but make a lower touch in the chest area. This gives the Orthodox, who cross themselves with three fingers (in some cases two) from right to left, reason to claim that Catholics draw on themselves not a normal cross, but an upside-down one, that is, a satanic sign.

8. Catholics are obsessed with fighting any type of contraception, which seems especially appropriate during the AIDS pandemic. And Orthodoxy recognizes the possibility of using some contraceptives that do not have an abortifacient effect, for example, condoms and female contraceptives. Of course, legally married.

9. Well, Catholics consider the Pope to be the infallible representative of God on earth. In the Orthodox Church, the Patriarch holds a similar position. Which, theoretically, can also fail.

The first external difference between Catholic and Orthodox symbols concerns the image of the cross and crucifixion. If in the early Christian tradition there were 16 types of cross shapes, today a four-sided cross is traditionally associated with Catholicism, and an eight-pointed or six-pointed cross with Orthodoxy.

The words on the sign on the crosses are the same, only the languages ​​in which the inscription “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” is written are different. In Catholicism it is Latin: INRI. Some Eastern churches use the Greek abbreviation INBI from the Greek text Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος ὁ Bασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων.

The Romanian Orthodox Church uses the Latin version, and in the Russian and Church Slavonic versions the abbreviation looks like I.Н.Ц.I.

It is interesting that this spelling was approved in Russia only after Nikon’s reform; before that, “Tsar of Glory” was often written on the tablet. This spelling was preserved by the Old Believers.

The number of nails often also differs on Orthodox and Catholic crucifixes. Catholics have three, Orthodox have four.

The most fundamental difference between the symbolism of the cross in the two churches is that on the Catholic cross Christ is depicted in an extremely naturalistic way, with wounds and blood, wearing a crown of thorns, with his arms sagging under the weight of his body, while on the Orthodox crucifix there are no naturalistic traces of the suffering of Christ, the image of the Savior shows the victory of life over death, the Spirit over the body.

In the CIS countries, most people are familiar with Orthodoxy, but know little about other Christian denominations and non-Christian religions. Therefore the question is: “ How does the Catholic Church differ from the Orthodox Church?“or, to put it more simply, “the difference between Catholicism and Orthodoxy” - Catholics are asked very often. Let's try to answer it.

First of all, Catholics are also Christians. Christianity is divided into three main directions: Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism. But there is no single Protestant Church (there are several thousand Protestant denominations in the world), and the Orthodox Church includes several Churches independent of each other.

Besides the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), there is the Georgian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Church, Romanian Orthodox Church, etc. The Orthodox Churches are governed by patriarchs, metropolitans and archbishops. Not all Orthodox Churches have communion with each other in prayers and sacraments (which is necessary for individual Churches to be part of the one Ecumenical Church according to the catechism of Metropolitan Philaret) and recognize each other as true churches.

Even in Russia itself there are several Orthodox Churches (the Russian Orthodox Church itself, the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, etc.). It follows from this that world Orthodoxy does not have a single leadership. But the Orthodox believe that the unity of the Orthodox Church is manifested in a single doctrine and in mutual communication in the sacraments.

Catholicism is one Universal Church. All its parts in different countries of the world are in communication with each other, share a single creed and recognize the Pope as their head. In the Catholic Church there is a division into rites (communities within the Catholic Church, differing from each other in forms of liturgical worship and church discipline): Roman, Byzantine, etc. Therefore, there are Catholics of the Roman rite, Catholics of the Byzantine rite, etc., but they are all members of the same Church.

Now we can talk about the differences:

1) So, the first difference between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches is in different understandings of the unity of the Church. For the Orthodox it is enough to share one faith and sacraments; Catholics, in addition to this, see the need for a single head of the Church - the Pope;

2) The Catholic Church differs from the Orthodox Church in its understanding of universality or catholicity. The Orthodox claim that the Universal Church is “embodied” in each local Church, headed by a bishop. Catholics add that this local Church must have communion with the local Roman Catholic Church in order to belong to the Universal Church.

3) The Catholic Church in that The Holy Spirit comes from the Father and the Son (“filioque”). The Orthodox Church confesses the Holy Spirit emanating only from the Father. Some Orthodox saints spoke about the procession of the Spirit from the Father through the Son, which does not contradict Catholic dogma.

4) The Catholic Church confesses that the sacrament of marriage is for life and prohibits divorce, The Orthodox Church allows divorce in some cases;

5)The Catholic Church proclaimed the dogma of purgatory. This is the state of souls after death, destined for heaven, but not yet ready for it. There is no purgatory in Orthodox teaching (although there is something similar - ordeal). But the prayers of the Orthodox for the dead suggest that there are souls in an intermediate state for whom there is still hope of going to heaven after the Last Judgment;

6) The Catholic Church accepted the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. This means that even original sin did not touch the Mother of the Savior. Orthodox Christians glorify the holiness of the Mother of God, but believe that she was born with original sin, like all people;

7)Catholic dogma of Mary's assumption to heaven body and soul is a logical continuation of the previous dogma. The Orthodox also believe that Mary resides in Heaven in body and soul, but this is not dogmatically enshrined in Orthodox teaching.

8) The Catholic Church accepted the dogma of the primacy of the Pope over the entire Church in matters of faith and morals, discipline and government. The Orthodox do not recognize the primacy of the Pope;

9) In the Orthodox Church one rite predominates. In the Catholic Church this a ritual that originated in Byzantium is called Byzantine and is one of several.

In Russia, the Roman (Latin) rite of the Catholic Church is better known. Therefore, the differences between the liturgical practice and church discipline of the Byzantine and Roman rites of the Catholic Church are often mistaken for differences between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. But if the Orthodox liturgy is very different from the Roman rite mass, then the Catholic liturgy of the Byzantine rite is very similar. And the presence of married priests in the Russian Orthodox Church is also not a difference, since they are also in the Byzantine rite of the Catholic Church;

10) The Catholic Church proclaimed the dogma of the infallibility of the Pope o in matters of faith and morals in those cases where he, in agreement with all the bishops, affirms what the Catholic Church has already believed for many centuries. Orthodox believers believe that only the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils are infallible;

11) The Orthodox Church accepts the decisions of only the first seven Ecumenical Councils, while The Catholic Church is guided by the decisions of the 21st Ecumenical Council, the last of which was the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).

It should be noted that the Catholic Church recognizes that local Orthodox Churches are true Churches, preserving apostolic succession and true sacraments. Both Catholics and Orthodox Christians have the same Creed.

Despite their differences, Catholics and Orthodox Christians throughout the world profess one faith and one teaching of Jesus Christ. Once upon a time, human mistakes and prejudices separated us, but still faith in one God unites us.

Jesus prayed for the unity of His disciples. His disciples are all of us, both Catholics and Orthodox. Let us join in His prayer: “That they all may be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21). The unbelieving world needs our common witness for Christ.

Video lectures on the Dogmas of the Catholic Church

This year, the entire Christian world simultaneously celebrates the main holiday of the Church - the Resurrection of Christ. This again reminds us of the common root from which the main Christian denominations originate, of the once existing unity of all Christians. However, for almost a thousand years this unity has been broken between Eastern and Western Christianity. If many are familiar with the date of 1054 as the year of separation of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches officially recognized by historians, then perhaps not everyone knows that it was preceded by a long process of gradual divergence.

In this publication, the reader is offered a shortened version of the article by Archimandrite Plakida (Dezei) “The History of a Schism.” This is a brief exploration of the causes and history of the break between Western and Eastern Christianity. Without examining in detail the dogmatic subtleties, focusing only on the origins of theological disagreements in the teachings of Blessed Augustine of Hippo, Father Placidas provides 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 occur overnight or suddenly, but was the result of “a long historical process influenced by doctrinal differences as well as political and cultural factors.”

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

Harbingers of a split

The teaching of bishops and church writers whose works were written in Latin - Saints Hilary of Pictavia (315-367), Ambrose of Milan (340-397), Saint 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 placed more emphasis on the moralizing component than on deep theological analysis.

The first attempt on this doctrinal harmony occurred with the advent of the teachings of Blessed Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (354–430). Here we encounter one of the most exciting mysteries of Christian history. In Blessed Augustine, who had the highest degree of feeling for the unity of the Church and love for it, there was nothing of a heresiarch. And yet, in many directions, 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 “philosophical” of the Church Fathers, is inclined to extol 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 originates, just like the Son, 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 institutional and legal aspects in the life of the Church. From the 5th century Filioque was universally accepted in the West, almost without the knowledge of the non-Latin Churches, but it was added later to the Creed.

In regard to the inner life, Augustine so emphasized human weakness and the omnipotence of Divine grace that it seemed as if he belittled human freedom in the face of Divine predestination.

Augustine's genius and supremely attractive personality even during his lifetime aroused admiration in the West, where he was soon considered the greatest of the Church Fathers and focused almost entirely on his school. To a large extent, Roman Catholicism and its breakaway Jansenism and Protestantism will differ from Orthodoxy in that they owe to St. Augustine. The medieval conflicts between the priesthood and the empire, the introduction of the scholastic method in the medieval universities, clericalism and anti-clericalism in Western society are, to varying degrees and in different forms, either the legacy or consequences of Augustinianism.

In the IV–V centuries. Another disagreement appears between Rome and other Churches. For all the Churches of East and West, the primacy recognized by 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, from the fact that it was glorified by the preaching and martyrdom of the two supreme apostles Peter and Paul . But this is championship inter pares(“among equals”) did not mean that the Roman Church is the seat of centralized government of the Universal Church.

However, starting from the second half of the 4th century, a different understanding emerged in Rome. The Roman Church and its bishop demand for themselves the dominant power, which would make it the governing body of the government of the Universal Church. According to Roman doctrine, this primacy is based on the clearly expressed will of Christ, who, in their opinion, endowed this authority with Peter, telling him: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church” (Matthew 16:18). The Pope no longer considered himself simply the successor of Peter, who has since been recognized as the first bishop of Rome, but also his vicar, in whom the supreme apostle, as it were, continues to live and through him to rule the Universal Church.

Despite some resistance, this position of primacy was gradually accepted by the entire West. The remaining Churches generally adhered to the ancient understanding of primacy, often allowing some ambiguity in their relations with the Roman See.

Crisis in the Late Middle Ages

VII century witnessed the birth of Islam, which began to spread at lightning speed, helped jihad- a holy war that allowed the Arabs to conquer the Persian Empire, which had long been a formidable rival to the Roman Empire, as well as the territories of the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Beginning from this period, the patriarchs of the mentioned cities were often forced to entrust the management of the remaining Christian flock to their representatives, who stayed locally, while they themselves had to live in Constantinople. The result of this 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 supreme judge of the Churches of the East.

With the emergence of the Isaurian dynasty (717), an iconoclastic crisis broke out (726). Emperors Leo III (717–741), Constantine V (741–775) and their successors prohibited the depiction of Christ and saints and the veneration of icons. Opponents of the imperial doctrine, mainly monks, were thrown into prison, tortured, and killed, as in the days of the 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, to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

At the same time, in order to more successfully resist the advance of the Arabs, the iconoclast emperors proclaimed themselves adherents of Greek patriotism, very far from the previously dominant universalist “Roman” idea, and lost interest in the non-Greek regions of the empire, in particular in northern and central Italy, which the Lombards claimed.

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 thereby restored. But the fact that the iconoclast emperors limited their foreign policy interests to the Greek part of the empire led to the fact that the popes began to look for other patrons for themselves. Previously, popes who did not have territorial sovereignty were loyal subjects of the empire. Now, stung by the annexation of Illyria to Constantinople and left without protection 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 promote the arrival of the new Carolingian dynasty, bearers of other ambitions.

In 739, Pope Gregory III, seeking to prevent the Lombard king Luitprand from uniting Italy under his rule, turned to Majordomo Charles Martel, who tried to use the death of Theodoric IV to eliminate the Merovingians. In exchange for his help, he promised to renounce all loyalty to the Emperor of Constantinople and benefit exclusively from the protection of the Frankish king. 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.

Charles Martel could not live up to the hopes of Gregory III. However, in 754, Pope Stephen II personally went to France to meet with Pepin the Short. He recaptured Ravenna from the Lombards in 756, but instead of returning it to Constantinople, he handed it over to the pope, laying the foundation for the soon-to-be-formed Papal States, which turned the popes into independent secular rulers. In order to provide a legal basis for the current situation, the famous forgery was developed in Rome - the “Donation 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 from Constantinople, placed 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, which would preserve the unity of Romania. But the Carolingian empire wanted to be the only legitimate Christian empire and sought to take the place of the Constantinople empire, considering it obsolete. That is why theologians from Charlemagne’s entourage allowed themselves to condemn the decisions of the VII Ecumenical Council on the veneration of icons as tainted by idolatry and introduce Filioque in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. However, the popes soberly opposed these imprudent measures aimed at degrading 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 a foregone conclusion. And such a gap could not but lead to a religious schism itself, 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 9th century. The antagonism between Rome and Constantinople appeared on a new basis: the question arose of which jurisdiction to include the Slavic peoples, who were embarking on the path of Christianity at that time. 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 papal supremacy in the Universal Church, limit the interference of secular authorities in church affairs, and also fought against the centrifugal tendencies manifested in part of the Western episcopate. He supported his actions with fake decretals that had recently circulated, allegedly issued by previous popes.

In Constantinople, Photius became patriarch (858–867 and 877–886). As modern historians have convincingly established, the personality of Saint Photius and the events of his reign were greatly denigrated by his opponents. He was a very educated man, deeply devoted to the Orthodox faith, and a zealous servant of the Church. He understood well the great importance of educating the Slavs. It was on his initiative that Saints Cyril and Methodius set out to enlighten the Great Moravian lands. Their mission in Moravia was ultimately strangled and supplanted by the machinations of 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 involved in educating 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 time to Rome, receiving Latin missionaries. Photius learned that they preached the Latin doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit and seemed 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, with the help of church intrigues, to restore to the see the former Patriarch Ignatius, deposed in 861. In response to this, Emperor Michael III and Saint Photius convened a council in Constantinople (867) , whose regulations were subsequently destroyed. This council apparently accepted the doctrine of Filioque heretical, declared the pope’s intervention in the affairs of the Church of Constantinople unlawful and broke off liturgical communion with him. And since complaints from Western bishops to Constantinople about the “tyranny” of Nicholas I, the council suggested that Emperor Louis of Germany 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 to be 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 see. 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 church independence and remained in the orbit of the interests of Constantinople. 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 communication between Rome and Constantinople continued for more than a century.

Break in the 11th century

XI century for the Byzantine Empire was truly “golden”. The power of the Arabs was completely 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 profitable for him, was defeated, the same fate befell Samuel, who rebelled 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 rise that began immediately after the triumph of Orthodoxy in 843 was accompanied by the political and economic prosperity 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 of Capetian France. However, 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 schism, the consequences of which were tragic for Europe.

From the beginning of the 11th 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 a long process that 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 notification of his accession to the Roman throne. Be that as it may, during the coronation of the German Emperor Henry II (1014), the Creed was sung in Rome with Filioque.

Besides the introduction Filioque There were also a number of Latin customs that outraged the Byzantines and increased the grounds for disagreement. Among them, the use of unleavened bread to celebrate 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 for their Passover. Symbolic language was given great importance at that time, which is why the use of unleavened bread was perceived by the Greeks as a return to Judaism. They saw in this a denial of the novelty and the spiritual nature of the Savior’s sacrifice, which He offered in exchange for the Old Testament rites. In their eyes, the use of “dead” bread meant that the Savior in the incarnation took only a human body, but not a soul...

In the 11th century The strengthening of papal power, which began during the time of Pope Nicholas I, continued with greater force. The fact is that in the 10th century. The power of the papacy was weakened as never before, being a victim of the actions of various factions of the Roman aristocracy or experiencing pressure from the German emperors. Various abuses spread in the Roman Church: the sale of church positions and the awarding of them by 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, mainly natives of Lorraine, among whom Cardinal Humbert, Bishop of Bela Silva, stood out. The reformers saw no other means to correct the disastrous state of Latin Christianity other than strengthening the power and authority of the pope. In their view, papal power, as they understood it, should extend to the Universal Church, both Latin and Greek.

In 1054, an event occurred that could remain insignificant, but served as the occasion for a dramatic clash between the ecclesiastical tradition of Constantinople and the Western reform movement.

In an effort to obtain the help of the pope in the face of the threat of the Normans, who were encroaching on the Byzantine possessions of southern Italy, Emperor Constantine Monomachos, at the instigation of the Latin Argyrus, whom he appointed ruler of these possessions, took a conciliatory position towards Rome and wished to restore the unity that, as we have seen, was interrupted at the beginning of the century . But the actions of Latin reformers in southern Italy, which infringed on Byzantine religious customs, worried the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cyrularius. The papal legates, among whom was the inflexible bishop of Bela Silva, Cardinal Humbert, who arrived in Constantinople to negotiate unification, plotted 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 for the excommunication of Michael Kirularius 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 significance to the hasty and rash act of the legates, which could not be appreciated 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 considered this teaching as contrary to the apostolic tradition. In addition, the intentions of the reformers to extend the absolute and direct power of the pope to all bishops and believers, even in Constantinople itself, became clear to the Byzantines. Ecclesiology presented in this form seemed completely new to them and, in their eyes, also could not help but contradict the apostolic tradition. Having become familiar with the situation, the rest of the Eastern Patriarchs joined the position of Constantinople.

1054 should be considered not so much as the date of the schism, but 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 the structure of the Church. To these were also added differences in less important issues related 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, serious events occurred that further complicated understanding between 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 destruction of Constantinople, the proclamation of a Latin emperor and the establishment of the rule of the Frankish lords, who arbitrarily carved out the land holdings of the former Roman Empire. Many Orthodox monks were expelled from their monasteries and replaced by Latin monks. All this was probably unintentional, but it was nevertheless a logical consequence of the creation of the Western Empire and the evolution of the Latin Church from the beginning of the Middle Ages.<…>

Archimandrite Placida (Dezei) was born in France in 1926 into a Catholic family. In 1942, at the age of sixteen, he entered the Cistercian Abbey of Bellefontaine. 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 convert to Orthodoxy. The transition took place on June 19, 1977; in February of the following year they became monks of the Mount Athos monastery of Simonopetra. Returning some time later to France, Fr. Placidas, together with the brethren who converted to Orthodoxy, founded four metochions of the Simonopetra monastery, the main one of which was the monastery of St. Anthony the Great in Saint-Laurent-en-Royan (Drôme department), in the Vercors mountain range. Archimandrite Plakida is an associate professor of patrolology in Paris. He is the founder of the series “Spiritualité orientale” (“Eastern Spirituality”), published since 1966 by the publishing house of Bellefontaine Abbey. Author and translator of many books on Orthodox spirituality and monasticism, the most important of which are: “The Spirit of Pachomius Monasticism” (1968), “We See the True Light: Monastic Life, Its Spirit and Fundamental Texts” (1990), “The Philokalia and Orthodox Spirituality "(1997), "The Gospel in the Wilderness" (1999), "The Cave of Babylon: A Spiritual Guide" (2001), "The Basics of the Catechism" (in 2 volumes 2001), "The Confidence of the Unseen" (2002), "The Body - soul - spirit in the Orthodox understanding" (2004). In 2006, a translation of the book “Philokalia and Orthodox Spirituality” was published for the first time at the publishing house of the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University. Those wishing to get to know the biography of Fr. Plakida recommends turning to the appendix in this book - the autobiographical note “Stages of a Spiritual Journey.” (Note per.)

Pepin III the Short ( lat. Pippinus Brevis, 714–768) - French king (751–768), founder of the Carolingian dynasty. The son of Charles Martel and hereditary mayor, Pepin overthrew the last king of the Merovingian dynasty and achieved his election to the royal throne, receiving the sanction of the Pope. (Note per.)

Saint Theodosius I the Great (c. 346–395) - Roman emperor from 379. Commemorated on January 17. The son of a commander, originally from Spain. After the death of the emperor, Valens was proclaimed by Emperor Gratian as his co-ruler in the eastern part of the empire. Under him, Christianity finally became the dominant religion, and the state pagan cult was banned (392). (Note per.)

Those whom we call “Byzantines” called their empire Romania.

See especially: Janitor Frantisek. Photius schism: History and legends. (Col. “Unam Sanctam”. No. 19). Paris, 1950; It's him. Byzantium and Roman primacy. (Col. “Unam Sanctam”. No. 49). Paris, 1964. pp. 93–110.

God is one, God is love - these statements are familiar to us from childhood. Why then is the Church of God divided into Catholic and Orthodox? Are there many more denominations within each direction? All questions have their own historical and religious answers. We will now get acquainted with some of them.

History of Catholicism

It is clear that a Catholic is a person who professes Christianity in its branch called Catholicism. The name goes back to Latin and ancient Roman roots and is translated as “corresponding to everything,” “according to everything,” “conciliar.” That is, universal. The meaning of the name emphasizes that a Catholic is a believer who belongs to the religious movement whose founder was Jesus Christ himself. When it originated and spread across the Earth, its followers considered each other as spiritual brothers and sisters. Then there was one opposition: Christian - non-Christian (pagan, true believer, etc.).

The western part of the Ancient Roman Empire is considered the birthplace of the faiths. It was there that the words themselves appeared: This direction was formed throughout the first millennium. During this period, spiritual texts, chants and services were the same for all who worship Christ and the Trinity. And only around 1054 the Eastern one, with its center in Constantinople, and the Catholic one - the Western one, the center of which was Rome. Since then, it has come to be believed that a Catholic is not just a Christian, but an adherent of the Western religious tradition.

Reasons for the split

How can we explain the reasons for the discord that has become so deep and irreconcilable? After all, what is interesting: for a long time after the schism, both Churches continued to call themselves catholic (the same as “Catholic”), that is, universal, ecumenical. The Greco-Byzantine branch, as a spiritual platform, relies on the “Revelations” of John the Theologian, the Roman branch - on the Epistle to the Hebrews. The first is characterized by asceticism, moral quest, and “life of the soul.” For the second - the formation of iron discipline, a strict hierarchy, the concentration of power in the hands of priests of the highest ranks. Differences in the interpretation of many dogmas, rituals, church governance and other important areas of church life became the watershed that separated Catholicism and Orthodoxy on opposite sides. Thus, if before the schism the meaning of the word Catholic was equal to the concept of “Christian,” then after it it began to indicate the Western direction of religion.

Catholicism and Reformation

Over time, the Catholic clergy deviated so much from the norms that the Bible affirmed and preached that this served as the basis for the organization within the Church of such a movement as Protestantism. Its spiritual and ideological basis was the teachings of its supporters. The Reformation gave birth to Calvinism, Anabaptism, Anglicanism and other Protestant denominations. Thus, Lutherans are Catholics, or, in other words, evangelical Christians, who were against the church actively interfering in worldly affairs, so that papal prelates went hand in hand with secular power. The trade in indulgences, the advantages of the Roman Church over the Eastern, the abolition of monasticism - this is not a complete list of those phenomena that the followers of the Great Reformer actively criticized. In their faith, Lutherans rely on the Holy Trinity, especially worshiping Jesus, recognizing his divine-human nature. Their main criterion of faith is the Bible. A distinctive feature of Lutheranism, like others, is a critical approach to various theological books and authorities.

On the issue of the unity of the Church

However, in the light of the materials under consideration, it is not completely clear: are Catholics Orthodox or not? This question is asked by many who do not understand theology and all sorts of religious subtleties too deeply. The answer is both simple and difficult at the same time. As stated above, initially - yes. While the Church was One Christian, everyone who was part of it prayed the same, worshiped God according to the same rules, and used common rituals. But even after the division, each - both Catholic and Orthodox - consider themselves the main successors of the heritage of Christ.

Interchurch relations

At the same time, they treat each other with sufficient respect. Thus, the Decree of the Second Vatican Council notes that those people who accept Christ as their God, believe in him and are baptized are considered Catholics as brothers in faith. They also have their own documents, which also confirm that Catholicism is a phenomenon whose nature is akin to the nature of Orthodoxy. And the differences in dogmatic postulates are not so fundamental that both Churches are at enmity with each other. On the contrary, relations between them should be built in such a way that together they serve a common cause.