Schism
Besides all the political disharmony in the news today about republicans and democrats, Brexit and the Muslim Sunni-Shia rebellions, I read with sadness the religious disharmony making news in the Eastern Orthodox Church. I am quite sure the evil one is celebrating in hell tonight. An ecumenical council is taking place in the east this month, June 2016, after a long break of inaction. The Holy and Great Council of Orthodox Patriarchs is meeting for the first time in 1,139 years. They are meeting in Crete and not Constantinople, so as to pretend that Bartholomew is not the head of the Orthodox Church. But schisms have developed. It seems that the gathering lacks the congealing presence of the Holy Spirit and the mindset of Christ. If only Saint Paul were still around. I am quite certain that Paul would set these men straight. One last comment about discord. I must apologize to my Protestant brothers and sisters for previously condemning them as heretics. I read in the news that some in the Orthodox Church consider Catholics as heretics. I was shocked that members of a church under the Vicar of Christ, Bishop of Rome, the Pope, could be considered heretics. Why, I have such pride in my Catholic religion.
Well here goes a very brief history on religion. Christ named twelve. One bolted then Matthias was added and finally Paul. Paul and the remaining twelve were dispersed around the world and for nearly 300 years, the church grew as one under God. Besides Jerusalem and Rome, many Christian Churches in the East claim to have been founded by the apostles: Antioch by Peter and Paul, Alexandria by Mark, Constantinople by Andrew, Cyprus by Barnabas, Ethiopia by Matthew, India by Thomas, Edessa in eastern Syria by Thaddeus, Armenia by Bartholomew, Georgia by Simon the Zealot. After much persecution by the Romans, along came Constantine in 325 A.D. Roman Emperor Constantine, while ruling the empire from Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) convened the council of Nicaea. Three hundred and eighteen bishops were present from around the world as well as priests, deacons, and acolytes in great numbers. Hosius, Bishop of Cordova, attended as legate of Pope Sylvester. The Emperor Constantine was also present. To this council we owe the Nicene Creed.
One canon stands out, Canon 16: All clerics were forbidden to leave their church. Bishops, priests, and deacons were not to pass from one church to another. Bishops were forbidden to ordain for their diocese a cleric belonging to another diocese. Unity existed in God’s newly established Church albeit under the supreme authority of the Roman Emperor. And the council tended to quell disharmony by restricting the powers of the respective bishops to within their dioceses. The church grew slowly but breaches in the relationships between human leaders soon began.
In 476 A.D., Rome fell to various Germanic tribes. The new separation of the Greek East from the Latin West created a strain between the Greek and the Latin Christians. The dominant language of the West was Latin, while that of the East was Greek. The number of individuals who spoke both languages dwindled, and communication between East and West grew difficult. The two halves of the Catholic Church were naturally divided along these lines. The eastern Roman Empire, also called the Byzantine Empire, flourished and expanded its reach. The Byzantine Empire was a theocracy. The Emperor was the supreme authority in both church and state. Byzantium was distinguished from ancient Rome in that it was centered around Constantinople, oriented towards Greek rather than Latin culture, and characterized by Orthodox Christianity. Authority of the bishop of Rome waned.
By 661, Muslim Arabs had taken over the territories assigned to the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Only two rival power centers of ecclesiastical authority existed, Constantinople and Rome. The church effectively lost one third of its sphere of influence when Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem fell to the Arabs.
The physical and theological separation of power between the eastern and western church developed over time but the official date of the schism is 1054 A.D. The primary causes of the schism were disputes over conflicting claims of jurisdiction, in particular over papal authority. Pope Leo IX claimed he held authority over the four Eastern patriarchs. The East–West Schism, also called the Great Schism of 1054, caused the break of communion between the Eastern Orthodox (Byzantine) and the Roman Catholic churches. The Bishop of Rome's claim to universal jurisdiction over the See of Constantinople was unbearable.
Byzantine fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The Turks invaded Constantinople and gradually converted the entire region to Islam. The Christian center of authority was removed from Constantinople and moved north to Moscow. The Russian Church, a part of the Church of Constantinople until the mid-15th century, was granted full independence and elevated to the rank of Patriarchate in 1589. The Russian political and ecclesiastical elite came to view Moscow as the Third Rome, a legitimate heir to Constantinople and Byzantium. The orthodox church lost another third of its center of influence to the Muslims. The only remaining Christian Kingdom was located from Greece, northward and westward.
The doctrine of papal primacy was further developed at the First Vatican Council (1870), which declared that "in the disposition of God the Roman church holds the preeminence of ordinary power over all the other churches". This council also affirmed the dogma of papal infallibility, declaring that the infallibility of the Christian community extends to the pope himself, when he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church. This new dogma, as well as the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, was rejected by the Eastern Church as heretical.
A major event of the Second Vatican Council, known as Vatican II, was the issuance of the Catholic–Orthodox Joint Declaration of 1965 by Pope Paul and Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople . At the same time, they lifted the mutual excommunications created from the 11th century schism. The joint declaration did not result in restoration of communion. The two churches are just as separated today as they were in the 11th century.
This schism within the Catholic Church created the Orthodox Church. Unfortunately the Orthodox Church created a schism within a schism. Thats what happens to churches when schisms develop. Just look at the Protestants for evidence. Today the Protestants have over 30,000 different denominations that preach different things. Getting back to the Orthodox church, it is now composed of 14 different churches within a church. Most of the 14 autocephalous (self-governing) churches are defined by national jurisdictions — the Orthodox Churches of (1) Albania, (2) Bulgaria, (3) Czech and Slovakia, (4) Georgia, (5) Greece, (6) Poland, (7) Romania, (8) Russia and (9) Serbia — while another five trace histories back to ancient communities: (10) Alexandria, (11) Antioch, (12) Constantinople, (13) Cyprus and (14) Jerusalem.
With authority flowing from the ancient seat of the Byzantine Empire, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople is considered “first among equals” in relation to other Orthodox leaders, or so he thought. The Orthodox Churches have been planning this Great Council for 100 years, literally. Then right at the last minute, days before the scheduled opening of the council in June 2016, five churches began to disagree about the issues to be discussed.
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox, Patriarchate of Antioch, Serbian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church of Georgia and the Russian Orthodox Church all back out at last minute. The Russian church is largest of the churches. They are larger than all of the remaining churches combined. There are 100 million members of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Romanian Orthodox Church is the second largest with 21 million member.
The documents produced from the meager council espouse views that no closer bring the orthodox churches together than before the council. The orthodox churches cannot seem to unify. In fact they produced a document (THE ORTHODOX DIASPORA and Autonomy and the Means by Which it is Proclaimed) which seems to allow independent churches within each autonomous church to break away and create smaller churches. They are proliferating ideas of Protestantism. They are creating a schism within a schism. Their schism has created a situation where any thought of communion with the Roman Catholic Church is hundreds of years away if ever. Read the documents produced by the council here: https://www.holycouncil.org/home.
Another great schism within the Roman Catholic Church was the reformation begun by two protesting, catholic priests named Martin Luther and John Calvin in early 1500s. Look how that turned out - hundreds of protesting churches. We are also undergoing a Muslim schism between the Sunni and Shia, and now an eastern orthodox schism. The only unified church still standing is the Roman Catholic Church or rather what’s left of it. Oh, how the Lord must hate all of these schisms. But He did foretell them, didn’t He. When will all these schisms cease?
Well here goes a very brief history on religion. Christ named twelve. One bolted then Matthias was added and finally Paul. Paul and the remaining twelve were dispersed around the world and for nearly 300 years, the church grew as one under God. Besides Jerusalem and Rome, many Christian Churches in the East claim to have been founded by the apostles: Antioch by Peter and Paul, Alexandria by Mark, Constantinople by Andrew, Cyprus by Barnabas, Ethiopia by Matthew, India by Thomas, Edessa in eastern Syria by Thaddeus, Armenia by Bartholomew, Georgia by Simon the Zealot. After much persecution by the Romans, along came Constantine in 325 A.D. Roman Emperor Constantine, while ruling the empire from Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) convened the council of Nicaea. Three hundred and eighteen bishops were present from around the world as well as priests, deacons, and acolytes in great numbers. Hosius, Bishop of Cordova, attended as legate of Pope Sylvester. The Emperor Constantine was also present. To this council we owe the Nicene Creed.
One canon stands out, Canon 16: All clerics were forbidden to leave their church. Bishops, priests, and deacons were not to pass from one church to another. Bishops were forbidden to ordain for their diocese a cleric belonging to another diocese. Unity existed in God’s newly established Church albeit under the supreme authority of the Roman Emperor. And the council tended to quell disharmony by restricting the powers of the respective bishops to within their dioceses. The church grew slowly but breaches in the relationships between human leaders soon began.
In 476 A.D., Rome fell to various Germanic tribes. The new separation of the Greek East from the Latin West created a strain between the Greek and the Latin Christians. The dominant language of the West was Latin, while that of the East was Greek. The number of individuals who spoke both languages dwindled, and communication between East and West grew difficult. The two halves of the Catholic Church were naturally divided along these lines. The eastern Roman Empire, also called the Byzantine Empire, flourished and expanded its reach. The Byzantine Empire was a theocracy. The Emperor was the supreme authority in both church and state. Byzantium was distinguished from ancient Rome in that it was centered around Constantinople, oriented towards Greek rather than Latin culture, and characterized by Orthodox Christianity. Authority of the bishop of Rome waned.
By 661, Muslim Arabs had taken over the territories assigned to the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Only two rival power centers of ecclesiastical authority existed, Constantinople and Rome. The church effectively lost one third of its sphere of influence when Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem fell to the Arabs.
The physical and theological separation of power between the eastern and western church developed over time but the official date of the schism is 1054 A.D. The primary causes of the schism were disputes over conflicting claims of jurisdiction, in particular over papal authority. Pope Leo IX claimed he held authority over the four Eastern patriarchs. The East–West Schism, also called the Great Schism of 1054, caused the break of communion between the Eastern Orthodox (Byzantine) and the Roman Catholic churches. The Bishop of Rome's claim to universal jurisdiction over the See of Constantinople was unbearable.
Byzantine fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The Turks invaded Constantinople and gradually converted the entire region to Islam. The Christian center of authority was removed from Constantinople and moved north to Moscow. The Russian Church, a part of the Church of Constantinople until the mid-15th century, was granted full independence and elevated to the rank of Patriarchate in 1589. The Russian political and ecclesiastical elite came to view Moscow as the Third Rome, a legitimate heir to Constantinople and Byzantium. The orthodox church lost another third of its center of influence to the Muslims. The only remaining Christian Kingdom was located from Greece, northward and westward.
The doctrine of papal primacy was further developed at the First Vatican Council (1870), which declared that "in the disposition of God the Roman church holds the preeminence of ordinary power over all the other churches". This council also affirmed the dogma of papal infallibility, declaring that the infallibility of the Christian community extends to the pope himself, when he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church. This new dogma, as well as the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, was rejected by the Eastern Church as heretical.
A major event of the Second Vatican Council, known as Vatican II, was the issuance of the Catholic–Orthodox Joint Declaration of 1965 by Pope Paul and Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople . At the same time, they lifted the mutual excommunications created from the 11th century schism. The joint declaration did not result in restoration of communion. The two churches are just as separated today as they were in the 11th century.
This schism within the Catholic Church created the Orthodox Church. Unfortunately the Orthodox Church created a schism within a schism. Thats what happens to churches when schisms develop. Just look at the Protestants for evidence. Today the Protestants have over 30,000 different denominations that preach different things. Getting back to the Orthodox church, it is now composed of 14 different churches within a church. Most of the 14 autocephalous (self-governing) churches are defined by national jurisdictions — the Orthodox Churches of (1) Albania, (2) Bulgaria, (3) Czech and Slovakia, (4) Georgia, (5) Greece, (6) Poland, (7) Romania, (8) Russia and (9) Serbia — while another five trace histories back to ancient communities: (10) Alexandria, (11) Antioch, (12) Constantinople, (13) Cyprus and (14) Jerusalem.
With authority flowing from the ancient seat of the Byzantine Empire, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople is considered “first among equals” in relation to other Orthodox leaders, or so he thought. The Orthodox Churches have been planning this Great Council for 100 years, literally. Then right at the last minute, days before the scheduled opening of the council in June 2016, five churches began to disagree about the issues to be discussed.
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox, Patriarchate of Antioch, Serbian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church of Georgia and the Russian Orthodox Church all back out at last minute. The Russian church is largest of the churches. They are larger than all of the remaining churches combined. There are 100 million members of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Romanian Orthodox Church is the second largest with 21 million member.
The documents produced from the meager council espouse views that no closer bring the orthodox churches together than before the council. The orthodox churches cannot seem to unify. In fact they produced a document (THE ORTHODOX DIASPORA and Autonomy and the Means by Which it is Proclaimed) which seems to allow independent churches within each autonomous church to break away and create smaller churches. They are proliferating ideas of Protestantism. They are creating a schism within a schism. Their schism has created a situation where any thought of communion with the Roman Catholic Church is hundreds of years away if ever. Read the documents produced by the council here: https://www.holycouncil.org/home.
Another great schism within the Roman Catholic Church was the reformation begun by two protesting, catholic priests named Martin Luther and John Calvin in early 1500s. Look how that turned out - hundreds of protesting churches. We are also undergoing a Muslim schism between the Sunni and Shia, and now an eastern orthodox schism. The only unified church still standing is the Roman Catholic Church or rather what’s left of it. Oh, how the Lord must hate all of these schisms. But He did foretell them, didn’t He. When will all these schisms cease?
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