SuurSkisma

SuurSkisma, commonly called the East–West Schism, refers to the formal division between the Western Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The event is traditionally dated to 1054, though dissent and division between East and West had built for centuries. The split led to the development of two distinct Christian traditions, with separate leadership, theology, liturgy, and canon law.

Several factors contributed to SuurSkisma. Theological disagreements included the filioque clause added to the Nicene Creed by Western churches without broad consensus from the East, and questions about the extent and nature of papal authority and primacy. Liturgical and disciplinary differences, such as the use of unleavened bread in the West versus leavened bread in the East, also played a role. Political, cultural, and linguistic differences between the Latin West and the Byzantine East further widened mutual distrust and estrangement.

A key turning point occurred in 1054, when papal legates and the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael I Cerularius, excommunicated each other, symbolizing the rupture. Over the following centuries, events such as the Fourth Crusade (1204) intensified fragmentation and distrust, as Latin influence penetrated parts of the Eastern Church.

Reconciliation efforts occurred at various times, and in 1965, the mutual excommunications of 1054 were publicly lifted by Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I. Nevertheless, full communion has not been restored, and SuurSkisma remains a defining division in Christian history. The schism shaped the development of Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology, ecclesiology, and ritual practice, and continues to influence interchurch relations today.