Eli’s Mind

The Great Schism, also known as the East-West Schism, was a significant event in Christian history that occurred in 1054 and resulted in the permanent division of the Christian Church into the Western Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The primary factor that brought it on was a combination of religious, cultural, and political differences between the Latin-speaking West and the Greek-speaking East. Doctrinal disputes, such as the Filioque controversy (involving the procession of the Holy Spirit), differences in church hierarchy and governance, as well as the role of the Pope, contributed to the growing tension between the two sides. Additionally, geopolitical factors and power struggles between the papacy and the Byzantine Empire further strained the relationship. These cumulative factors ultimately led to the formal excommunication of each other’s representatives and the irreversible separation of the Eastern and Western Christian traditions.