When and why did the Christian church split. Division of Christianity into different denominations. Pre-Nicene Church

So what is the reason for the division between Orthodox and Catholics? This question is often heard, especially at moments of such striking events as the recent visit of Vladimir Putin to the Vatican or the famous “Havana meeting” of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia with Pope Francis in February 2016. Today, on the days of the 965th anniversary of this division, I would like to understand what happened in July 1054 in Rome and Constantinople, and why it is customary to count the beginning of the Great Schism, the Great Schism, from this date.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on July 4, 2019. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Not so long ago we already wrote about the main stereotypes related to the differences between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Like, their priests can shave, but they can’t get married, and in the Catholic churches themselves, they are allowed to sit on special benches for services, which are already shorter than Orthodox ones. In a word, look at the Pope and the Patriarch: one is clean-shaven, the other is bearded. Isn't it obvious what the difference is?

If you take this issue more seriously and dig a little deeper, you understand that the problem is not only in appearance and ritualism. There are many religious differences, the degree of depth of which allowed the Orthodox Christians of those distant centuries to accuse the Latins (now more often called Catholics or Roman Catholics) of heresy. And with heretics, according to church rules, there can be no prayerful and even more so liturgical communication.

But what are these heresies that led Western and Eastern Orthodox Christians to the Great Schism, which led to many wars and other tragic events, and also became the basis of the civilizational division of European countries and peoples that exists to this day? Let's try to figure it out.

And for this, we first rewind the time line several centuries earlier than the already mentioned year 1054, to which we will return a little later.

Papism: the key "stumbling block"

It is important to note that even before 1054, divisions between Rome and Constantinople, the two capitals of the Christian world, occurred repeatedly. And not always through the fault of the popes, who in the first millennium were the real, legitimate bishops of Old Rome, the heirs of the supreme apostle Peter. Alas, during this period, the Patriarchs of Constantinople repeatedly fell into heresy, whether it was Monophysitism, Monothelitism, or iconoclasm. And just the same, the popes of Rome in these same times remained faithful to patristic Christianity.

However, in the West at the same time, the basis for falling into heresy was ripening, which turned out to be much more difficult to heal than the already mentioned ancient ones. And this foundation is the very “papal primacy” that practically elevates the popes of Rome to inhuman dignity. Or at least violates the conciliar principle of the Church. This teaching boils down to the fact that the popes of Rome, as "heirs" of the supreme apostle Peter, are not "first among equals" bishops, each of whom has apostolic succession, but "vicars of Christ" and should lead the entire Universal Church.

Pope John Paul II. Photo: giulio napolitano / Shutterstock.com

Moreover, in asserting their undivided power and striving for political power, even before the separation of the Western and Eastern Churches, the popes were ready to go even to outright forgery. A well-known church historian and hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Elista and Kalmykia spoke about one of them in an interview with the Tsargrad TV channel:

In the 8th century, the document "Veno Konstantinovo" or "Konstantin's gift" appeared, according to which Emperor Constantine the Great Equal to the Apostles, leaving Old Rome, allegedly left all his imperial powers to the Bishop of Rome. Having received them, the popes of Rome began to rule in relation to other bishops not as elder brothers, but as if they were sovereigns ... Already in the 10th century, the German emperor Otto I the Great rightly treated this document as a fake, although for a long time he continued to stir up ambition Popes.

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It was this exorbitant papal lust for power, based on one of the most famous mortal sins - pride - that even before the blatant deviation of Western Christians into heresy, led to the first significant split of the Western (Roman) and Eastern (Constantinople and other Local Orthodox) Churches. The so-called "Photian schism" of 863-867 from the Nativity of Christ. In those years, there was a serious conflict between Pope Nicholas I and Patriarch Photius of Constantinople (the author of the District Epistle against Latin errors).

Patriarch Photius of Constantinople. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Formally, both Primates were equal First Hierarchs of the two Local Churches: Roman and Constantinople. But Pope Nicholas II sought to extend his power to the East - to the dioceses of the Balkan Peninsula. As a result, a conflict occurred, culminating in the mutual excommunication of each other from the Church. And although the conflict was rather ecclesiastical-political, and as a result, it was settled by political methods, it was during its course that the Roman Catholics were first accused of heresies. First of all, it was about ... filioque.

filioque: the first dogmatic heresy of the Latins

A detailed analysis of this complex theological and dogmatic dispute is very complicated and clearly does not fit into the framework of a survey church history article. And therefore - thesis.

The Latin term "Filioque" (Filioque - "and from the Son") was introduced into the Western version of the Creed even before the separation of the Western and Eastern Churches, which violated the immutable principle of the immutability of this most important prayer text, which contains the foundations of the Christian faith.

Photo: www.globallookpress.com

So, in the Creed, approved back at the IV Ecumenical Council in 451 from the Nativity of Christ, the teaching about the Holy Spirit, it was said that it comes only from God the Father (in the Church Slavonic translation, “who proceeds from the Father”). The Latins, however, arbitrarily added “and from the Son,” which contradicted the Orthodox teaching about the Most Holy Trinity. And already at the end of the 9th century, at the Local Council of Constantinople in 879-880, it was said very clearly on this subject:

If anyone formulates another wording, or adds to this Symbol words which he probably invented, if he then presents it as a rule of faith to infidels or converts, like the Visigoths in Spain, or if he thus dares to distort the ancient and revered Symbol in words , or additions, or omissions emanating from himself, if the person is spiritual, such a person is subject to defrocking, and a layman who dares to do this is subject to anathema.

Finally, the heretical term Filioque was established in the Latin Creed only in 1014, when relations between the Western and Eastern Churches were already extremely strained. Of course, this was categorically not accepted in the Christian East, once again rightly accusing the Roman Catholics of a heretical innovation. Of course, in Rome they tried to theologically justify the change in the Creed, but in the end everything came down to the same proudly papist explanations in the spirit of “We have the right!” and even “Who are you to argue with the vicar of Christ Himself ?!”, which led to the final division in 1054.

Later, many others will be added to this dogmatic heresy among Roman Catholics: the dogma of the “Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary”, the dogma of “purgatory”, the infallibility (infallibility) of the Pope in matters of faith (continuing the logic of “papal primacy”) and a number of others doctrinal, as well as numerous liturgical and ritual innovations. All of them only aggravated the division between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, which actually took place at the turn of the millennium and was only officially established in 1054 from the Nativity of Christ.

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Great Schism of 1054

But let's get back to the tragic events, whose 965th anniversary is being celebrated these days. What happened in Rome and Constantinople in the middle of the 11th century? As it has already become clear, by this time church unity was already quite formal. Nevertheless, the parties did not dare to finalize the “divorce”. The reason for the break was the theological discussion of 1053, known as the "Dispute about unleavened bread".

As already mentioned, the term “filioque” had already become the main dogmatic divergence by this time. But there was another significant moment, in which the Orthodox and the Latins were already divided by that time. The moment is sacramentological, that is, concerning the doctrine of the Sacraments, in this case, the main Sacrament - the Eucharist, Communion. As you know, in this Sacrament the liturgical bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, after which, in Communion, the faithful who have prepared to receive them are united with the Lord Himself.

So, in Orthodoxy, this Sacrament during the Divine Liturgy is performed on leavened bread (prosphora, which have a great symbolic meaning), and among the Latins - on unleavened bread (small round "wafers" or, in other words, "guests", a bit reminiscent of Jewish matzo). For the Orthodox, the latter is categorically unacceptable, not only because of different traditions, but also because of the important theological meaning of leavened bread, which goes back to the Gospel Last Supper.

Later, at one of the Greek Local Councils, it will be stated:

The one who says that our Lord Jesus Christ at the Last Supper had unleavened bread (without yeast), like the Jews; but did not have leavened bread, that is, bread with yeast; let him be far away from us and let him be anathema; as having Jewish views.

Photo: pravoslavie.ru

The same position was held in the Church of Constantinople in the middle of the 11th century. As a result, this theological conflict, multiplied by the ecclesiological (church-political) dispute about the canonical territories of the Western and Eastern Churches, led to a tragic outcome. On July 16, 1054, papal legates arrived at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople and announced the deposition of Patriarch Michael Cirularius of Constantinople and his excommunication from the Church. In response to this, on July 20, the Patriarch anathematized the legates (Pope Leo IX himself had died by that time).

De jure, these personal anathemas (excommunications from the Church) did not yet mean the Great Schism of the Churches themselves, but de facto it happened. Due to some inertia of the first millennium, Western and Eastern Christians still retained a visible unity. But a century and a half later, in 1204, when the Roman Catholic "crusaders" seized and ravaged Orthodox Constantinople, it would become clear that Western civilization had finally fallen away from Orthodoxy.

And in recent centuries this falling away has only worsened, despite the attempts of some near-Orthodox liberal-minded figures (often referred to as "philo-Catholics") to close their eyes to this. But that is "an entirely different story."

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 people are familiar with the date 1054 as the year officially recognized by historians as the year of the separation of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, then perhaps not everyone knows that it was preceded by a long process of gradual divergence.

In this publication, the reader is offered an abbreviated version of the article by Archimandrite Plakida (Dezey) "The History of a Schism". This is a brief study of the causes and history of the gap between Western and Eastern Christianity. Without examining dogmatic subtleties in detail, dwelling only on the sources of theological disagreements in the teachings of Blessed Augustine of Hippo, Father Plakida gives 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 happen overnight or suddenly, but was the result of "a long historical process, which was influenced by both doctrinal differences and political and cultural factors."

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

Harbingers of a split

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

The first attempt at this doctrinal harmony occurred with the appearance of the teachings of Blessed Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (354-430). Here we meet with one of the most disturbing mysteries of Christian history. In Blessed Augustine, to whom the feeling of the unity of the Church and love for it were inherent in the highest degree, there was nothing of a heresiarch. And yet, in many ways, 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 "philosophizing" of the Fathers of the Church, is inclined to exalt 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, like the Son, originates 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 the institutional and legal aspects in the life of the Church. From the 5th century filioque was universally allowed in the West, almost without the knowledge of the non-Latin Churches, but it was added to the Creed later.

As far as the inner life is concerned, Augustine emphasized human weakness and the omnipotence of Divine grace to such an extent that it appeared that he diminished human freedom in the face of Divine predestination.

Augustine's brilliant and highly attractive personality, even during his lifetime, was admired in the West, where he was soon considered the greatest of the Fathers of the Church and almost completely focused only on his school. To a large extent, Roman Catholicism and the Jansenism and Protestantism that splintered from it will differ from Orthodoxy in that which they owe to St. Augustine. Medieval conflicts between priesthood and empire, the introduction of the scholastic method in medieval universities, clericalism and anti-clericalism in Western society are, in varying degrees and forms, either a legacy or a consequence of Augustinism.

In the IV-V centuries. there is another disagreement between Rome and other Churches. For all the Churches of East and West, the primacy recognized for 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 hand, from the fact that it was glorified by the preaching and martyrdom of the two supreme apostles Peter and Paul . But it's superior inter pares("between equals") did not mean that the Church of Rome was the seat of central government for the Universal Church.

However, starting from the second half of the 4th century, a different understanding was emerging in Rome. The Roman Church and its bishop demand for themselves a dominant authority that would make it the governing organ of the universal Church. According to Roman doctrine, this primacy is based on the clearly expressed will of Christ, who, in their opinion, gave this authority to Peter, saying to him: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16, 18). The Pope of Rome considered himself not just the successor of Peter, who has since been recognized as the first bishop of Rome, but also his vicar, in whom, as it were, the supreme apostle continues to live and through him to rule the Universal Church.

Despite some resistance, this position of primacy was gradually accepted by the whole West. The rest of the Churches generally adhered to the ancient understanding of primacy, often allowing some ambiguity in their relationship with the See of Rome.

Crisis in the Late Middle Ages

7th century witnessed the birth of Islam, which began to spread at lightning speed, which was facilitated by jihad- a holy war that allowed the Arabs to conquer the Persian Empire, which for a long time was a formidable rival of the Roman Empire, as well as the territories of the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Starting from this period, the patriarchs of the cities mentioned were often forced to entrust the management of the remaining Christian flock to their representatives, who stayed on the ground, while they themselves had to live in Constantinople. As a result, there 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 highest judge of the Churches of the East.

With the advent of the Isaurian dynasty (717), an iconoclastic crisis broke out (726). The emperors Leo III (717–741), Constantine V (741–775) and their successors forbade the depiction of Christ and the saints and the veneration of icons. Opponents of the imperial doctrine, mostly monks, were thrown into prison, tortured, and killed, as in the time of 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 of Rome, to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

At the same time, in order to more successfully resist the offensive of the Arabs, the iconoclast emperors proclaimed themselves adherents of Greek patriotism, very far from the universalist "Roman" idea that had prevailed before, and lost interest in non-Greek areas of the empire, in particular, in northern and central Italy, claimed by the Lombards.

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 thus restored. But the fact that the iconoclast emperors limited their foreign policy interests to the Greek part of the empire led the popes to look for other patrons for themselves. Previously, the popes, who had no territorial sovereignty, were loyal subjects of the empire. Now, stung by the annexation of Illyria to Constantinople and left unprotected 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 contribute to the arrival of a new dynasty of Carolingians, bearers of other ambitions.

In 739, Pope Gregory III, seeking to prevent the Lombard king Luitprand from uniting Italy under his rule, turned to Major Charles Martel, who tried to use the death of Theodoric IV in order to eliminate the Merovingians. In exchange for his help, he promised to renounce all loyalty to the Emperor of Constantinople and take advantage of the patronage exclusively of the King of the Franks. 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.

Karl Martel could not justify the hopes of Gregory III. However, in 754, Pope Stephen II personally went to France to meet Pepin the Short. In 756, he conquered Ravenna from the Lombards, but instead of returning Constantinople, he handed it over to the pope, laying the foundation for the soon formed Papal States, which turned the popes into independent secular rulers. In order to give a legal justification for the current situation, a famous forgery was developed in Rome - the "Gift 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 of Constantinople, laid 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 that would preserve the unity of Romagna. But the Carolingian Empire wanted to be the only legitimate Christian empire and sought to take the place of the Constantinopolitan Empire, considering it obsolete. That is why the theologians from Charlemagne's entourage took the liberty of condemning the decrees of the 7th Ecumenical Council on the veneration of icons as tainted with idolatry and introducing filioque in the Nicene-Tsaregrad Creed. However, the popes soberly opposed these careless measures aimed at belittling 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 sealed. And such a break could not but lead to a proper religious schism, 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 ninth century the antagonism between Rome and Constantinople manifested itself on a new basis: the question arose of what jurisdiction to include the Slavic peoples, who at that time were embarking on the path of Christianity. 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 the dominance of the pope in the Universal Church, limit the interference of secular authorities in church affairs, and also fought against the centrifugal tendencies that manifested themselves among part of the Western episcopate. He backed up his actions with counterfeit decretals circulating shortly before, allegedly issued by previous popes.

In Constantinople, Photius (858-867 and 877-886) became patriarch. As modern historians have convincingly established, the personality of St. Photius and the events of the time of his reign were strongly vilified by his opponents. He was a very educated man, deeply devoted to the Orthodox faith, a zealous servant of the Church. He was well aware of the great importance of the enlightenment of the Slavs. It was on his initiative that Saints Cyril and Methodius went to enlighten the Great Moravian lands. Their mission in Moravia was eventually stifled and driven out by the intrigues of the German preachers. Nevertheless, they managed to translate liturgical and most important biblical texts into Slavonic, creating an alphabet for this, and thus laid the foundation for the culture of the Slavic lands. Photius was also involved in the education of the peoples of the Balkans and Russia. 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 while to Rome, receiving Latin missionaries. It became known to Photius that they preach the Latin doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit and seem 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 to restore the former Patriarch Ignatius, who was deposed in 861, to the throne with the help of church intrigues. In response to this, Emperor Michael III and Saint Photius convened a council in Constantinople (867) , whose regulations were subsequently destroyed. This council, apparently, recognized the doctrine of filioque heretical, declared unlawful the intervention of the pope in the affairs of the Church of Constantinople and severed liturgical communion with him. And since Western bishops complained to Constantinople about the "tyranny" of Nicholas I, the council proposed to Emperor Louis the German to 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 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 throne. 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 ecclesiastical independence and remained in the orbit of Constantinople's interests. 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 communion between Rome and Constantinople continued for more than a century.

Gap in the 11th century

11th century for the Byzantine Empire was truly "golden". The power of the Arabs was finally undermined, Antioch returned to the empire, a little more - and Jerusalem would have been liberated. The Bulgarian Tsar Simeon (893–927), who was trying to create a Romano-Bulgarian empire that was beneficial to him, was defeated, the same fate befell Samuil, who raised an uprising 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 upsurge that began immediately after the triumph of Orthodoxy in 843 was accompanied by the political and economic flourishing 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 - France of the Capetians. Nevertheless, it was precisely 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 split, the consequences of which were tragic for Europe.

From the beginning of the XI 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 the long process 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 notice of his accession to the throne of Rome. Be that as it may, but during the coronation of the German emperor Henry II (1014), the Creed was sung in Rome with filioque.

In addition to the introduction filioque there were also a number of Latin customs that revolted the Byzantines and increased the occasion for disagreement. Among them, the use of unleavened bread for the celebration of 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 of unleavened bread, that is, without leaven, as the ancient Jews did on their Passover. Symbolic language was of great importance at that time, which is why the use of unleavened bread by the Greeks was perceived as a return to Judaism. They saw in this a denial of that novelty and that spiritual nature of the Savior's sacrifice, which were offered by Him instead of the Old Testament rites. In their eyes, the use of "dead" bread meant that the Savior in incarnation took only a human body, but not a soul...

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

In 1054, an event occurred that might have remained insignificant, but served as a pretext for a dramatic clash between the ecclesiastical tradition of Constantinople and the Western reformist movement.

In an effort to get help from the pope in the face of the threat of the Normans, who encroached on the Byzantine possessions of southern Italy, Emperor Constantine Monomachus, at the instigation of the Latin Argyrus, who was appointed by him as the ruler of these possessions, took a conciliatory position towards Rome and wished to restore unity, interrupted, as we saw, at the beginning of the century . But the actions of the Latin reformers in southern Italy, infringing on Byzantine religious customs, worried the Patriarch of Constantinople Michael Cirularius. The papal legates, among whom was the adamant Bishop of White Silva, Cardinal Humbert, who arrived in Constantinople for negotiations on unification, planned to remove the intractable patriarch by the hands of the emperor. The matter ended with the legates placing a bull on the throne of Hagia Sophia excommunicating Michael Cirularius 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 the hasty and thoughtless act of the legates a significance that they could not appreciate 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 regarded this teaching as contrary to the apostolic tradition. In addition, the Byzantines became clear about the plans of the reformers to extend the absolute and direct authority of the pope to all bishops and believers, even in Constantinople itself. Presented in this form, ecclesiology seemed completely new to them and also could not but contradict the apostolic tradition in their eyes. Having familiarized themselves with the situation, the rest of the eastern patriarchs joined the position of Constantinople.

1054 should be seen less as the date of the split than 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 about the structure of the Church. Differences were also added to them in less important matters relating 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, there were serious events that further complicated the understanding between the 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 ruin of Constantinople, the proclamation of the Latin emperor and the establishment of the rule of the Frankish lords, who arbitrarily cut the land holdings of the former Roman Empire. Many Orthodox monks were expelled from their monasteries and replaced by Latin monks. All this probably happened unintentionally, yet this turn of events was a logical consequence of the creation of the western empire and the evolution of the Latin Church since the beginning of the Middle Ages.<…>

Archimandrite Placida (Deseus) was born in France in 1926 into a Catholic family. In 1942, at the age of sixteen, he entered the Cistercian abbey of Belfontaine. 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 accept Orthodoxy. The transition took place on June 19, 1977; in February of the following year, they became monks at the Simonopetra monastery at Athos. Returning some time later to France, Fr. Plakida, together with the brethren who converted to Orthodoxy, founded four courtyards of the monastery of Simonopetra, the main of which was the monastery of St. Anthony the Great in Saint-Laurent-en-Royan (Drome department), in the Vercors mountain range. Archimandrite Plakida is an assistant professor of patrology in Paris. He is the founder of the series "Spiritualitй orientale" ("Oriental Spirituality"), published since 1966 by the publishing house of the abbey of Belfontaine. Author and translator of many books on Orthodox spirituality and monasticism, the most important of which are: The Spirit of Pahomiev Monasticism (1968), We Have Seen the True Light: Monastic Life, Its Spirit and Fundamental Texts (1990), Philokalia and Orthodox Spirituality "(1997), "Gospel in the Desert" (1999), "Babylonian Cave: Spiritual Guide" (2001), "Fundamentals of the Catechism" (in 2 volumes 2001), "Confidence in the Invisible" (2002), "Body - soul - spirit in the Orthodox sense" (2004). In 2006, the publishing house of the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University for the first time saw the publication of a translation of the book "Philokalia" and Orthodox Spirituality ". Those wishing to get acquainted with the biography of Fr. Plakidy recommend referring to the application in this book - an autobiographical note "Stages of Spiritual Journey". (Note per.)

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

Saint Theodosius I the Great (c. 346–395) – Roman emperor from 379. Commemorated 17 January The son of a commander, originally from Spain. After the death of Emperor Valens, he was proclaimed 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.)

Romagna called their empire those whom we call "Byzantines".

See especially: Janitor Frantisek. Photius Schism: History and Legends. (Coll. Unam Sanctam. No. 19). Paris, 1950; He is. Byzantium and Roman primacy. (Coll. Unam Sanctam. No. 49). Paris, 1964, pp. 93–110.

In their official documents, the Western and Eastern churches refer to themselves as ecumenical. Until the 11th century there was a single Christian universal church. What led to its split?

The first political prerequisite for the split was the division in 395 of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western. This circumstance predetermined the claims of each of the parties to the sole leadership of the church.

The fate of the Western and Eastern empires developed differently. The Western Roman Empire was soon conquered by the Germanic tribes. Over time, independent feudal states were formed on the territory of the western Roman provinces. In the Eastern Roman Empire (later called Byzantium), a strong imperial power was preserved for a long time. The development of the eastern and western regions of the once unified state went in different ways.

Not only did the process of feudalization go on in different ways in the formed parts of the former Roman Empire, but it was also reflected differently in Western and Eastern Christianity. In the western regions, the formation of feudal relations took place at a more rapid pace. Given the rapidly changing situation, the Western Church accordingly amended its doctrine and rituals, in the interpretation of the decisions of ecumenical councils and Christian dogmas. The feudalization of the eastern parts of the former Roman Empire proceeded much more slowly. The stagnation of public life also determined the conservatism of Orthodox Church life.

Thus, under the influence of quite specific historical circumstances, two characteristic features of Eastern and Western Christianity were formed. The western church has flexibility, quick adaptability, while the eastern one has conservatism, gravitation towards traditions, towards customs, fanned and sanctified by antiquity. As it is not paradoxical, both branches of Christianity successfully used these features in the future. Western Christianity proved to be a convenient form of religion for countries in which the social situation was changing relatively quickly. Eastern Christianity was more suitable for countries with a stagnant nature of public life.

Features of the Western Christian Church were formed in the conditions of feudal political fragmentation. The Christian Church turned out to be, as it were, the spiritual core of the world fragmented into a number of independent states. In this situation, the Western clergy managed to create their own international church organization with a single center in Rome, with a single head - the Roman bishop. A number of factors contributed to the rise of the Roman bishop. One of them is the transfer of the capital of the empire from Rome to Constantinople. At first, this weakened the authority of the Roman hierarch, but soon Rome appreciated the benefits that could be drawn from the new situation. The Western Church got rid of the daily guardianship of the imperial power. The performance of certain state functions, for example, the collection of taxes by the Roman hierarch, also turned out to be very beneficial for the Western clergy. Gradually, the Western Church gained more and more economic and political influence. And as its influence grew, so did the authority of its head.

By the time the empire was divided, there was only one major religious center in the West, while there were four in the East. At the time of the Council of Nicaea, there were three patriarchs - the bishops of Rome, Alexandria and Antioch. Soon the bishops of Constantinople and Jerusalem also achieved the title of patriarch. The Eastern patriarchs were often at enmity with each other, fought for primacy, each sought to strengthen his influence. In the West, the Roman bishop had no such powerful competitors. In the conditions of the feudal fragmentation of the West, the Christian Church enjoyed relative independence for a long time. Playing the role of the spiritual center of the feudal world, she even fought for the primacy of church power over secular power. And sometimes she achieved great success. The Eastern Church could not dream of anything like this. She, too, at times tried to measure her strength with secular power, but always to no avail. The strong imperial power, which survived comparatively longer in Byzantium, determined from the very beginning for Eastern Christianity the role of a more or less obedient servant. The church was constantly dependent on secular sovereigns.

Emperor Constantine and his successors, strengthening their empire, turned the Christian church into a state institution. The Patriarch of Constantinople, in essence, was the Minister for Religious Affairs. The nature of the Christian Church in the Eastern Roman Empire as a state institution was clearly manifested during the convening of ecumenical councils. They were not only assembled by the emperors, but also chaired either by the ruler himself or by a secular official appointed by him. This was how the first six ecumenical councils were held, and only at the seventh (Nicene, 787) did the patriarch sit in the chair.

Of course, one should not present the hierarchs of Constantinople as meek lambs. The Patriarch of Constantinople had several ways of resisting imperial power. Sometimes he used his right of mandatory participation in the coronation of a new emperor and could refuse to crown him if the conditions put forward by him were not accepted. The patriarch also had the right to excommunicate the heretic emperor, for example, Emperor Leo VI was excommunicated in connection with his fourth marriage. Finally, he could turn for support to the Roman high priest, who did not submit to the authority of the Byzantine emperors. True, at the end of the eighth century. the Roman bishop was for some time subordinate to Byzantium, but soon the pope again came out from under the influence of the emperors of Constantinople.

From the middle of the ninth century there was a stubborn struggle between the papacy and the patriarchy for dominance in the Christian world. In 857 the emperor of Byzantium, Michael III, deposed Patriarch Ignatius and elevated Photius, whom he liked, to the patriarchal throne. Pope Nicholas I considered this an occasion for intervention and for strengthening his influence over the Eastern Church. He demanded the restoration of Ignatius, and at the same time presented a number of territorial claims (in particular, in relation to Bulgaria). The Byzantine emperor did not make concessions, and the pope declared Ignatius the true patriarch, and Photius the deposed.

Since that time, the confrontation between the two churches begins, the search for accusations against the opponent. Dogmatic disagreements boiled down to the following main questions:

The Eastern Church recognized the origin of the holy spirit only from God the Father, while the Western Church recognized the origin of the Holy Spirit only from God the Father and God the Son;

Each of the churches disputes the legitimacy of the councils that took place on the territory of the enemy (for example, the Council of Constantinople in 381).

Ritual disagreements boiled down to the fact that the Eastern Church denied the need for fasting on Saturday, because. this took place in the Western church, the celibacy of the Western clergy, the elevation of deacons directly to bishops, etc.

Canonical differences were expressed in the fact that the Pope arrogated to himself the right to be the head and judge of the entire Christian church. The doctrine of the primacy of the pope made him superior to the ecumenical councils. The Eastern Church occupied a subordinate position in relation to the state power, the Western Church placed itself in an independent state from the secular authorities, trying to increase its influence on society and the state.

In the middle of the XI century. The papacy drove the Greeks out of southern Italy. In response to this, Patriarch Michael Cerularius ordered that worship in the Latin churches of Constantinople be conducted according to the Greek model, and also closed the Latin monasteries. In 1054 both churches anathematized each other. The split has finally taken shape. The Western Church eventually received the name of the Catholic (universal), and the name of the Orthodox Church (that is, correctly glorifying God) was assigned to the Eastern Christian Church. The entire Catholic world is subject to a single head of the church - the Pope. Orthodoxy, on the other hand, is a system of autocephalous, i.e. independent churches. Preserving basically the dogmas of Christianity, these currents differ from each other in their peculiar interpretation of some dogmas, in certain features of the cult.

At first, after the split, both churches made attempts to unite. At the end of the XI century. Pope Urban II called on the faithful to the first crusade, which had as its goal the liberation of the “Holy Sepulcher” and at the same time the enrichment and growth of the power of the Catholic Church. Numerous crusades took place from 1095 to 1270. During the fourth crusade (1202-1204), the crusaders stormed Constantinople, carrying out the armed subordination of the Orthodox Church to Rome. The formed Latin Empire did not last long, in 1261 it fell. The consequences of the crusades led to the strengthening of the power and importance of the Roman high priests, as the main initiators of these campaigns, contributed to the emergence of spiritual and knightly orders that protected the interests of the papacy, further aggravated the relationship between the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Attempts to reunite the churches were made in subsequent times. In 1965, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I lifted mutual anathemas from both churches, but no reunification took place. Too many grievances have accumulated.

To date, there are a number of autocephalous Orthodox churches. The most ancient: Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Others: Russian, Bulgarian, Georgian, Serbian, Romanian. The above autocephalous churches are headed by patriarchs. Metropolitans govern the Sinai, Polish, Czechoslovak, Albanian and American churches. Archbishops - Cyprus and Hellas. The metropolitans of the largest churches, such as Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, began to be called patriarchs. Constantinople, as the high priest of the capital of the empire, received the title of Ecumenical Patriarch.

Dissatisfaction with the Roman church and its desire for transformation intensified in the 11th-15th centuries. There were many dissatisfied people in all strata of Western Christian society. The reasons for the crisis of the Roman Catholic Church were: the abuses of the papacy, the decline in morality among the clergy, the loss of the role that the church played in medieval society. Numerous attempts to eliminate shortcomings through non-church transformations ended in failure. The desire of the higher Catholic clergy to establish their political hegemony, to subjugate all secular life and the state as a whole, caused discontent among sovereigns, and governments, and scientists, and bishops, and the people.

The Catholic Church not only announced its claims to complete power in society, but also tried to realize them, using its political influence, military and financial power, and also using the weakness of the central government. Papal ambassadors, church tax collectors, and pardon sellers spread throughout Europe.

What changes were expected from the papacy?

● refusal of the pope from secular power;

● rejection of violence and arbitrariness;

● introduction of strict discipline in the life of the clergy and improvement of their morality;

● destruction of indulgences that caused particular discontent. (The papal church traded letters of absolution for both past and future sins, which were issued in the name of the Pope for money or any merit to the church);

● dissemination of religious education among the people and the restoration of piety in the church.

One of the first real attempts to break the papal power is associated with the University of Prague. Jan Hus, professor of theology at this university, spoke out against the abuses of the Roman church. He wrote an essay “On the Church”, in which he argued that the true church is the totality of not only the clergy, but all believers. He considered the isolation and privileged position of the clergy to be inconsistent with Christian teaching and demanded the equalization of all Christians before God. In the cult, this was expressed in the communion of the laity in the same way as the clergy (with the body and blood of Christ). Jan Hus advocated the secularization of church lands. The Pope in 1413 excommunicated Jan Hus from the church. Then, at the Ecumenical Council, Jan Hus was accused of heresy, in 1415 he was burned at the stake.

Jan Zizka continued the work of Hus. Supporters of Jan Zizka denied the spiritual and secular hierarchy, observed moral purity, opposed icon veneration, and demanded the abolition of secret confession. The confrontation with the Catholic Church grew into an armed clash. In 1434, having been defeated by the Catholic troops, the movement of Jan Zizka had to come to terms.

An attempt to reform the church was observed in Italy itself. The Dominican monk Jerome Savonarola acted as a church reformer here. In 1491 he was elected abbot of the monastery of San Marco. With the advent of a new abbot, serious changes took place in the monastery. Savonarola sold the monastic property, eradicated luxury, obliged all the monks to work, but at the same time the reformer was an ardent enemy of secular literature and humanism. In 1497, Pope Alexander VI excommunicated Savonarola from the church. The next year he was hanged and burned.

General indignation of the Roman church in the XIV-XV centuries. ended in the 16th century. Reformation (lat. - "transformation"). The Reformation, leading to a split in the Roman Catholic Church and the creation of new creeds, manifested itself with varying degrees of intensity in almost all countries of the Catholic world, affected the position of the church as the largest landowner and affected the role of Catholicism as an ideology that had defended the medieval system for centuries.

Reformation processes found in Europe in the 16th century. the nature of broad religious and socio-political movements that put forward demands for the reform of the Roman church and the transformation of the orders approved by its teaching.

Prominent theorists of the Reformation created doctrines that corresponded to the new trends in social development of the 16th-17th centuries. The main criticism was the teaching of the Catholic Church "On the sinfulness" of man's earthly existence. In order to instill in ordinary people the consciousness of their complete insignificance and to reconcile with their position, the Roman Church launched a dogma about the original “sinfulness” of man's earthly existence. The Church declared every person incapable of "saving his soul." The “salvation” and “justification” of the entire earthly world, according to Catholic teaching, is known only by the papal church, endowed with a special right to distribute “divine grace” in the world through the sacraments performed by it (baptism, repentance, communion, etc.). The Reformation rejected the dogma of the Roman Church about the obligatory mediation of the clergy between man and God. The central place of the new teachings of the Reformation was the doctrine of the direct relationship of man with God, of "justification by faith", i.e. “salvation” of a person not with the help of strict observance of rituals, but on the basis of God’s inner gift – faith. The meaning of the doctrines of "justification by faith" was the denial of the privileged position of the clergy, the rejection of the church hierarchy and the primacy of the pope. This made it possible to implement the demand for a “cheap” church, which had long been put forward by the burghers. The ideas of the Reformation strengthened the position of secular power and the emerging nation-states in the struggle against the claims of the pope.

With the conclusion about “justification by faith”, the ideologists of the Reformation connected their second main position, which was fundamentally different from the Catholic teaching - the recognition of “Holy Scripture” as the only authority in the field of religious truth: this entailed the refusal to recognize “Holy Tradition” (decisions of Roman popes and church councils ) and opened up the possibility for a freer and more rational interpretation of religious issues.

As a result of the Reformation, a new Protestant church appeared in many countries of Europe. The reform movement began, and with it the creation of Protestantism in Germany. It was led by the Augustinian monk Martin Luther (1483-1546).

At the end of October 1517, Luther presented 95 theses against indulgences. Luther's words and actions received wide support from German society and gave a powerful impetus to the struggle against the Catholic Church.

Unlike humanists who condemn the remission of sins for a fee, Martin Luther refuted the dogma itself about the possibility of saving the soul only through the mediation of the Catholic clergy and on the basis of a rite established by the church.

There are still enough contradictory opinions in Luther's theses, but the foundations of his teaching have already been outlined. The main place in this doctrine is occupied by the concept of “three only”: a person is saved only by faith; he acquires it only through the grace of God, and not as a result of personal merits; the only authority in matters of faith is "Holy Scripture."

The new religion - Lutheranism - turned into a banner of public opposition, its main conclusions were perceived by the masses as the basis not only for church, but also socio-political changes.

Today, Lutheranism continues to be the largest Protestant movement. Evangelical Lutheran churches exist in many parts of the world. In Europe, they are most influential in the Scandinavian countries and Germany. There are few Lutherans in Asian countries, their presence is more significant in America. The total number of Lutherans by the end of the twentieth century. is approximately 80 million. One of the reasons for the rapid spread of this teaching is Luther's idea of ​​two kingdoms. Luther made a clear distinction between religious and social life. The content of the first is faith, Christian preaching, the activities of the church; the second is worldly activity, the state and the mind.

If Luther was the spiritual leader of the moderate burgher-reformist wing of the Reformation, then the revolutionary peasant-plebeian camp was headed by Thomas Müntzer (c. 1490-1525). He was one of the most educated people of his time. At the very beginning of his preaching activity, Müntzer was a fierce supporter of the teachings of Luther. Luther sent him as a preacher to the cities of Juteborg and Zwickau.

However, Müntzer gradually began to move away from Lutheranism. The ideas developed by him brought into the movement a spirit of determination and passionate impatience. From 1524, Müntzer took part in the peasant war in Germany. He developed a program, the main provisions of which were outlined in the "Article Letter". These include the idea of ​​creating a "Christian Association" that will help the people to liberate themselves without bloodshed, only by fraternal exhortation and unity. Joining the "Christian Union" is offered not only to the oppressed, but also to the masters. Those who refuse to participate in the "Christian Association" are threatened with "secular excommunication." No one will communicate with them either at work or during leisure hours. Müntzer's ideas were extremely compressed: the princes were obliged to tear down their castles, give up their titles, honor only one God. For this, they were given all the property of the clergy that was in their possessions, and the mortgaged estates were returned.

In 1525, the princes managed to defeat the rebels in the battle of Mühlhausen. Many were executed by the victors, including Thomas Müntzer.

Until 1526, the Reformation in Germany was led by theologians, and then by the princes. The document that expressed the foundations of Lutheranism, to which the secular hierarchs joined, was the “Augsburg Confession”. In 1555, the Lutherans were granted the right to freedom in matters of faith, but only for the princes. The basis of the religious world was the principle: "Whose country, that and faith." Princes from that moment determined the religion of their subjects. In 1608, the German princes concluded a Protestant union. The agreement of 1648 finally secured the equality of Catholics and Protestants.

In the first half of the XVI century. The reform movement began to spread rapidly outside of Germany. Lutheranism established itself in Austria, in the Scandinavian countries, in the Baltics. Separate Lutheran communities appeared in Poland, Hungary, and France. At the same time, new varieties of Protestantism arose in Switzerland - Zwinglianism and Calvinism.

The Reformation in Switzerland, led by Zwingli (1484-1531) and Calvin (1509-1564), expressed more consistently than Lutheranism the bourgeois essence of the reform movement. Zwinglianism, in particular, broke more decisively with the ritual side of Catholicism, refusing to recognize a special magical power - grace - for the last two sacraments preserved by Lutheranism - baptism and communion. Communion was seen as a simple rite to commemorate the death of Jesus Christ, in which bread and wine are only symbols of his body and blood. In the organization of the Zwinglian church, in contrast to the Lutheran one, the republican principle was consistently implemented: each community is independent and elects its own priest.

Calvinism became much more widespread. Jean Calvin was born in the family of the episcopal secretary of the city of Noyon in northern France. His father prepared him for a career as a lawyer, sending him to study at the then famous University of Bourges. After graduating from university, Calvin was engaged in teaching and literary activities. For several years he lived in Paris, where, apparently, in 1534 he converted to Protestantism. In connection with the persecution of Protestants in 1536, he moved to Geneva, which at that time was a refuge for Protestants.

In the same year, his main work, “Instruction in the Christian Faith,” was published in Basel, which contained the main provisions of Calvinism. Calvin's teaching was directed, on the one hand, against Catholicism, on the other hand, against the currents of the popular reformation, whose representatives he accused of complete atheism. Calvin recognized "Holy Scripture" as the exclusive authority and did not allow human interference in the affairs of religion.

One of the fundamental dogmas of Calvinism is the doctrine of “absolute predestination”: even before the “creation of the world”, God predetermined the fate of people, one is destined for heaven, the other hell, and no efforts of people, no good deeds can change what is destined by the Almighty. From the very beginning, Calvinism was characterized by petty regulation of the personal and social life of believers, intolerance to any manifestation of dissent, suppressed by the most stringent measures. In 1538, the Calvinist rules of life were elevated to the rank of a law prohibiting luxury, amusements, games, singing, music, etc. From 1541, Calvin became the spiritual and secular dictator of Geneva. No wonder Geneva was then called “Protestant Rome”, and Calvin “Geneva Pope”.

Calvinism radically reformed the Christian cult and church organization. Almost all external attributes of the Catholic cult (icons, vestments, candles, etc.) were discarded. Reading and commenting on the Bible and singing psalms took the main place in the service. The church hierarchy was abolished. Elders (presbyters) and preachers began to play a leading role in Calvinist communities. The presbyters and preachers made up the consistory, which was in charge of the religious life of the community. Dogmatic issues were the responsibility of special meetings of preachers - congregations, which later turned into local and national congresses of community representatives.

In the Calvinist-Reformed form, Protestantism took hold in England. Unlike other countries, where the Reformation began with a popular movement, in England it was initiated by royalty.

Henry VIII in 1532 stops payments to the Roman church. In 1533 the king issues a law on the independence of England from the pope in church matters. The supremacy of the pope in the English Church passed to the king. This transfer of power was legalized in 1534 by the English parliament, which declared Henry VIII the head of the English church. In England, all the monasteries were closed, and their property was confiscated in favor of the royal power. But at the same time, the preservation of Catholic dogmas and rituals was announced. This is another feature of the reform movement in England - its half-heartedness, which manifested itself in maneuvering between Catholicism and Protestantism.

The Protestant Church in England, completely subordinate to the king, was called Anglican. In 1571, the Anglican Creed was adopted by Parliament, which confirmed that the king had supreme authority in the church, although he did not have the right to preach the word of God and perform the sacraments. The Anglican Church accepted the Protestant doctrines of justification by faith and of "Holy Scripture" as the only source of faith. She rejected the teachings of Catholicism about indulgences, about the veneration of icons and relics. At the same time, the Catholic dogma about the saving power of the church was recognized, albeit with reservations. The liturgy and a number of other rituals characteristic of Catholicism were preserved, and the episcopate remained inviolable.

The Anglican Church, as a result of a long struggle with Catholicism, finally established itself in 1562 under Queen Elizabeth I, during whose reign there were many supporters of the cleansing of the Anglican Church from the remnants of Catholicism - they were called Puritans (lat. Purus - “pure”). The most determined of the Puritans demanded the creation of independent communities. Elizabeth persecuted the Puritans as fiercely as she did the Catholics. The Anglican Church is currently the state religion in England. In total, there are more than 30 million English believers in the world. The head of the church is the English queen. Bishops are appointed by the Queen through the Prime Minister. The first clergyman is the Archbishop of Canterbury. The external ritual side of Catholicism in the Anglican Church has not changed much. The main place in worship was preserved for the liturgy, which is distinguished by complex rituals and solemnity.

The Catholic Church offered all possible resistance to Protestantism and the Reformation. Initially, the Counter-Reformation was expressed in separate, poorly coordinated attempts to oppose Protestantism. The Reformation took the Roman Catholic Church by surprise. Despite a number of proclaimed reforms, Catholicism was unable to make radical changes.

However, from the beginning of the 40s of the XVI century. in Catholicism, the idea of ​​refusing any concessions and indulgences to all new trends in the Roman Church prevailed. In order to eliminate the Reformation, the Catholic Church was forced to change its internal structure, system of power and government. New religious orders, the Inquisition, book censorship, the activities and decrees of the Council of Trent played a special role in the system of means for carrying out the Counter-Reformation.

The main role in the protection of Catholicism was assumed by the Inquisition and book censorship. Created in the XIII century. the inquisition (Latin - “investigation”) in 1541 was reorganized. In Rome, a supreme inquisitorial tribunal with unlimited power was created, extending its influence to all Catholic countries. The founder and first leader of the new Inquisition was Cardinal Caraffa. But not all countries agreed to accept the new Inquisition. In France, Venice and Florence, she acted under the control of secular authorities.

The Inquisition gained enormous influence. It strengthened the spirit of authoritarianism and intolerance of the Catholic Church, suspicion and merciless cruelty towards the enemies of the church. Executions of Protestants became commonplace. Utopian Francesco Pucci, philosopher Giordano Bruno and others perish on the scaffold; Tomaso Campanella has been in prison for 33 years; Galileo Galilei is forced to renounce his scientific discoveries.

The terror of the Inquisition was supplemented by strict book censorship. In 1543, Caraffa forbade the printing of any works without the permission of the Inquisition. The inquisitors oversaw the trade in books and their shipment. In 1599, in Rome, the "Index of Forbidden Books" was issued by the Pope, obligatory for the entire church. According to the law, people were subject to persecution for reading, keeping, distributing forbidden books or failing to inform about them.

A special role in the fight against dissent was played by the “Society of Jesus”, or the Order of the Jesuits (lat. Jezus - “Jesus”), which was officially approved by a papal bull in 1540. The founder and first general of the Jesuit order was the Spanish nobleman Ignacio Loyola (1491-1556 BC), an ardent supporter of the pope and the Catholic faith. The society was based on iron discipline, unquestioning obedience to orders. In addition to the usual monastic vows of chastity, non-acquisitiveness and obedience, members of the order bound themselves with a special oath of allegiance to the pope. The charter, adopted in 1558, required the Jesuits to commit sin, up to and including death, by order of the chief.

At the head of the "Society of Jesus" was a general for life, who had full control over all the affairs of the order. Under him there was a council with the functions of an advisory and supervisory authority. Both the general and the council were elected by the general assembly, or the general congregation, which formally held the supreme power. Society was built on a hierarchical principle, its members were divided into several classes. It had a strong local organization. The Jesuits divided the world into provinces, led by the provincials, several provinces were part of the assistance. The assistants who headed them were members of the central leadership. The independence of the order from secular and spiritual authorities turned it into an autonomous religious and political community in any country.

The Jesuit order was not monastic in the traditional sense. Its members were exempted from observing the rules of monastic life, from certain monastic vows. Even outwardly, the Jesuits looked more like secular scientists than monks. Active secular activity, the highest position in society were the goals of the members of the order. This allowed them to be at the center of political and social life, having great opportunities to exert a decisive influence on it, as required by the interests of the Catholic Church.

The main means of the Jesuits were education and diplomacy. Their education system was designed for young people from the top of society, but for the sake of popularity, orphanages were created.

In a difficult situation, the Jesuits were clever politicians. In all social circles, they amazed with their erudition, passionate sermons, sober and prudent advice, and various other abilities. At the courts of kings, they were confessors and mentors, in moments of social upheaval they did not shun even the most menial work.

The successes of the Reformation showed that the Catholic Church itself must carry out some internal reforms and reorganize its organization if it is to retain its role in the Catholic world. For the papacy, it was only about some half-hearted reforms that did not affect the basic dogmatic and organizational principles of the Catholic Church.

Such changes could explain the church council, the preparation for which lasted about ten years. The cathedral began its work in December 1545 in the northern Italian city of Trento (Trident). The Council of Trent worked for 18 years, was called upon to group all supporters of the Catholic Church. By his decisions, the Roman Church expressed its attitude towards Protestantism, condemning the new teachings.

In Trento, the conservative direction prevailed. This was facilitated by the enormous influence of the Jesuits on the development of major decisions, the clever work of the papal legates who presided over the council. With the adoption of minor amendments, hastily drawn up decrees on purgatory, indulgences, the veneration of saints, relics and church images, the cathedral ended its activity in 1563. In 1564, Pius IV approved its decrees, securing the right of their interpretation to the Holy See. The victory of the Catholic Church consisted in the fact that all the decisions of the council were placed in complete dependence on the pope, whose authority was recognized as supreme and indisputable.

I beseech you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that… there will be no divisions among you, but that you may be united in one spirit and in one thought.

Last Friday, a long-awaited event took place at the Havana airport: Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill talked, signed a joint declaration, declared the need to stop the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and North Africa, and expressed the hope that their meeting would inspire Christians around the world to pray for full unity of the churches. Since Catholics and Orthodox pray to the same god, venerate the same holy books and believe, in fact, the same thing, the site decided to figure out what are the most important differences between religious movements, as well as when and why the separation occurred. Interesting facts - in our brief educational program about Orthodoxy and Catholicism.

7 facts about the split of Christianity into Orthodoxy and Catholicism

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1. The split of the Christian church occurred in 1054. The Church was divided into Roman Catholic in the West (center in Rome) and Orthodox in the East (center in Constantinople). The reasons were, among other things, disagreements on dogmatic, canonical, liturgical and disciplinary issues.

2. In the process of schism, Catholics, among other things, accused the Orthodox of selling the gift of God, rebaptizing those baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity and allowing marriages for altar servers. The Orthodox accused the Catholics of, for example, fasting on Saturday and allowing their bishops to wear rings on their fingers.

3. The list of all issues on which Orthodox and Catholics cannot reconcile will take several pages, so we will give only a few examples.

Orthodoxy denies the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, Catholicism - on the contrary.

"Annunciation", Leonardo da Vinci

Catholics have special closed rooms for confession, while Orthodox confess in front of all parishioners.

Shot from the film "Customs Gives Good". France, 2010

Orthodox and Greek Catholics are baptized from right to left, Catholics of the Latin rite - from left to right.

A Catholic priest is required to take a vow of celibacy. In Orthodoxy, celibacy is obligatory only for bishops.

Great Lent for Orthodox and Catholics begins on different days: for the former, on Clean Monday, for the latter, on Ash Wednesday. Advent has a different duration.

Catholics consider church marriage to be indissoluble (however, if certain facts are discovered, it may be declared invalid). From the point of view of the Orthodox, in the event of adultery, the church marriage is considered destroyed, and the innocent party can enter into a new marriage without committing a sin.

In Orthodoxy, there is no analogue of the Catholic institution of cardinals.

Cardinal Richelieu, portrait by Philippe de Champaigne

In Catholicism there is a doctrine of indulgences. There is no such practice in modern Orthodoxy.

4. As a result of the division, Catholics began to consider the Orthodox only schismatics, while one of the points of view of Orthodoxy is that Catholicism is a heresy.

5. Both the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church ascribe the title of "one holy, catholic (cathedral) and apostolic Church" exclusively to themselves.

6. In the 20th century, an important step was taken in overcoming the division due to schism: in 1965, Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras lifted mutual anathemas.

7. Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill could have met two years ago, but then the meeting was canceled due to the events in Ukraine. The meeting of the heads of churches that took place would be the first in history after the "Great Schism" of 1054.

The first ever meeting between the Pope of Rome and the Patriarch of Moscow took place only in February 2016 on neutral Cuban territory. The phenomenal event was preceded by failures, mutual suspicions, centuries of hostility and attempts to reduce everything to peace. The division of the Christian Church into Catholic and Orthodox branches occurred due to disagreements in the interpretation of the "Creed". So because of a single word, according to which the Son of God became another source of the Holy Spirit, the church was divided into two parts. Less than preceded the Great Schism, which eventually led to the current state of affairs.

The split of the church in 1054: the reasons for the division of Christians

Ritual traditions and views on dogmatic principles in Rome and Constantinople began to gradually differ long before the final separation. In the past, communication between states was not so active, and each church developed in its own direction.

1. The first prerequisites for a split began in 863. For several years, Orthodox and Catholics have been in opposition. The events went down in history as the Photius Schism. The two ruling church leaders wanted to divide the land, but did not agree. The official reason was doubts about the legitimacy of the election of Patriarch Photius.
2. Ultimately, both religious leaders anathematized each other. Communication between the heads of Catholics and Orthodox was resumed only in 879 at the Fourth Council of Constantinople, which is now not recognized by the Vatican.
3. In 1053, another formal reason for the future Great Schism clearly stood out - the dispute about unleavened bread. The Orthodox used leavened bread for the sacrament of the Eucharist, while the Catholics used unleavened bread.
4. In 1054, Pope Leo XI sent Cardinal Humbert to Constantinople. The reason was the closing of the Latin churches in the capital of Orthodoxy that happened a year earlier. The Holy Gifts were thrown away and trampled underfoot because of the insipid way of making bread.
5. The papal claims to the lands were substantiated by a forged document. The Vatican was interested in receiving military support from Constantinople, and this was the main reason for the pressure exerted on the Patriarch.
6. After the death of Pope Leo XI, his legates nevertheless decided to excommunicate and depose the leader of the Orthodox. The retaliatory measures were not long in coming: four days later they themselves were anathematized by the Patriarch of Constantinople.

The split of Christianity into Orthodoxy and Catholicism: results

It seemed impossible to anathematize half of the Christians, but the then religious leaders saw this as acceptable. Only in 1965 did Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras abolish the mutual excommunication of churches.

After another 51 years, the leaders of the divided churches met in person for the first time. The ingrained differences were not so strong that the religious leaders could not be under the same roof.

• A thousand-year existence without being tied to the Vatican has reinforced the separation of two approaches to Christian history and the worship of God.
• The Orthodox Church never became united: there are many organizations in different countries headed by their Patriarchs.
• Catholic leaders realized that neither subjugating nor destroying the offshoot would work. They recognized the vastness of the new religion as equal to their own.

The split of Christianity into Orthodoxy and Catholicism did not prevent believers from glorifying the Creator. Let the representatives of one denomination pronounce perfectly and recognize dogmas that are unacceptable to another. Sincere love for God has no religious boundaries. Let Catholics dip babies at baptism once, and Orthodox three times. Little things of this kind matter only in mortal life. Having appeared before the Lord, everyone will be responsible for their actions, and not for the design of the temple they visited earlier. There are many things that unite Catholics and Orthodox. First of all, it is the Word of Christ, which is followed with humility in the soul. It is easy to find heresy, it is more difficult to understand and forgive, to see in everyone - the creation of God and his neighbor. The main purpose of the Church is to be a shepherd for the people and a shelter for the destitute.