The schism of Christianity 1054. The history of the schism of the Christian church

Almost a thousand years ago, the Catholic and Orthodox churches went their separate ways. July 15, 1054 is considered the official date of rupture, but this was preceded by a century-long history of gradual separation.

Akakievskaya schism

The first church schism, the Acacian schism, occurred in 484 and lasted 35 years. And although after it the formal unity of the churches was restored, further division was already inevitable. And it all began with what seemed like a joint struggle against the heresies of Monophysitism and Nestorianism. The Council of Chalcedon condemned both false teachings, and it was at this council that the form of the Creed that the Orthodox Church professes to this day was approved. The decisions of the Council caused a long-term “Monophysite turmoil.” Monophysites and seduced monks captured Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, expelling the Chalcedonite bishops from there. It was brewing religious war. In an effort to bring agreement and unity in faith, Patriarch Akakios of Constantinople and Emperor Zeno developed a compromise doctrinal formula. Pope Felix II defended the Chalcedonian creed. He demanded that Akaki come to the council in Rome to give explanations for his policies. In response to Acacius’s refusal and his bribery of the papal legates, Felix II at a council in Rome in July 484 excommunicated Acacius from the Church, and he, in turn, crossed out the name of the Pope from the diptychs. Thus began a schism called the Akakin Schasma. Then the West and the East reconciled, but “a sediment remained.”

Pope: The quest for primacy

Beginning in the second half of the 4th century, the Bishop of Rome: demands the status of the supreme authority for his church. Rome was to become the center of government of the Universal Church. This was justified by the will of Christ, who, according to Rome, endowed Peter with power, telling him: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church” (Matthew 16:18). The Pope no longer considered himself simply the successor of Peter, who has since been recognized as the first bishop of Rome, but also his vicar, in whom the apostle, as it were, continues to live and rule the Universal Church through the Pope.

Despite some resistance, this position of primacy was gradually accepted by the entire West. The rest of the Churches generally adhered to the ancient understanding of leadership through conciliarity.

Patriarch of Constantinople: Head of the Churches of the East

The 7th century witnessed the birth of Islam, which began to spread with lightning speed, facilitated by the conquest by the Arabs Persian Empire, for a long time formerly a formidable rival to the Roman Empire, as well as Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Beginning from this period, the patriarchs of these cities were often forced to entrust the management of the remaining Christian flock to their representatives, who stayed locally, while they themselves had to live in Constantinople. As a result of this, there was a relative decrease in the importance of these patriarchs, and the Patriarch of Constantinople, whose see already at the time of the Council of Chalcedon, held in 451, was placed in second place after Rome, thus became, to some extent, the highest judge of the Churches of the East .

Iconoclastic crisis: emperors versus saints

The triumph of Orthodoxy, which we celebrate in one of the weeks of Great Lent, is another evidence of the fierce theological clashes of bygone times. In 726, an iconoclastic crisis broke out: Emperors Leo III, Constantine V and their successors banned the depiction of Christ and saints and the veneration of icons. Opponents of the imperial doctrine, mainly monks, were thrown into prison and tortured.

The Roman popes supported the veneration of icons and broke off communication with the iconoclast emperors. And they, in response to this, annexed Calabria, Sicily and Illyria to the Patriarchate of Constantinople ( western part Balkans and northern Greece), which until that time were under the jurisdiction of the Pope.

The legality of the veneration of icons by the Eastern Church was restored at the VII Ecumenical Council in Nicaea. But the gulf of misunderstanding between West and East deepened, complicated by political and territorial issues.

Cyril and Methodius: alphabet for the Slavs

A new round of disagreement between Rome and Constantinople began in the second half of the 9th century. At this time, the question arose of which jurisdiction to include Slavic peoples who embarked on the path of Christianity. This conflict also left a deep mark on the history of Europe.

At that time, Nicholas I became pope, striving to establish the dominance of the Pope in the Universal Church and limit the interference of secular authorities in church affairs. It is believed that he supported his actions with forged documents allegedly issued by previous popes.

In Constantinople, Photius became patriarch. It was on his initiative that Saints Cyril and Methodius translated into Slavic language liturgical and most important biblical texts, creating an alphabet for this, and thus laid the foundation for the culture of the Slavic lands. The policy of speaking to neophytes in their own dialect brought Constantinople greater success, what the Romans gained by persistently speaking in Latin.

11th century: unleavened communion bread

XI century for the Byzantine Empire was truly “golden”. The power of the Arabs was completely undermined, Antioch returned to the empire, a little more - and Jerusalem would have been liberated. Kievan Rus Having adopted Christianity, she quickly became part of the Byzantine civilization. The rapid cultural and spiritual rise was accompanied by the political and economic prosperity of the empire. But it was in the 11th century. there was a final spiritual break with Rome. From the beginning of the 11th century. the name of the pope was no longer mentioned in the diptychs of Constantinople, which meant that communication with him was interrupted.

In addition to the question of the origin of the Holy Spirit, there was disagreement between the churches on a number of religious customs. The Byzantines, for example, were outraged by the use of unleavened bread for Communion. If in the first centuries leavened bread was used everywhere, then from the 7th–8th centuries Communion began to be celebrated in the West with unleavened bread, that is, without leaven, as the ancient Jews did for their Passover.

Duel on anathemas

In 1054, an event occurred that caused a break between the church tradition of Constantinople and the Western movement.

In an effort to obtain the help of the pope in the face of the threat of the Normans, who were encroaching on the Byzantine possessions of southern Italy, Emperor Constantine Monomakh, on the advice of the Latin Argyrus, whom he appointed ruler of these possessions, took a conciliatory position towards Rome and wished to restore unity. But the actions of Latin reformers in southern Italy, which infringed on Byzantine religious customs, worried the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cyrularius. The papal legates, among whom was Cardinal Humbert, who arrived in Constantinople to negotiate unification, sought to remove Michael Cyrularius. The matter ended with the legates placing a bull on the throne of Hagia Sophia excommunicating the patriarch 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.

As a result, the pope and the patriarch exchanged anathemas against each other, which marked the final split of the Christian churches and the emergence of the main directions: Catholicism and Orthodoxy.

The essence of the transformations was the correction and unification of church books and liturgical rites in accordance with contemporary Greek canons, which, in turn, was dictated by the expansion of ties with the Greek East.

Church reforms

At the end of the 1640s, a circle of “zealots of ancient piety” formed in Moscow. It included prominent church figures and secular persons: the Tsar’s confessor Stefan Vonifatiev, archpriest of the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square Ivan Neronov, archimandrite Novospassky Monastery, future patriarch, Nikon, okolnichy F.M. Rtishchev. The most notable of the provincial “zealots” was from Yuryevets Povolzhsky. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich clearly favored the mug. The goal of his program was to introduce liturgical uniformity, correct errors and discrepancies in church books, as well as strengthen the moral foundations of the clergy.

The first attempts at reform were made at the same time in the 1640s. But by the end of the 40s the circle had lost its former unanimity. Some “zealots” (Ivan Neronov, Avvakum) advocated editing books based on ancient Russian manuscripts, others (Vonifatiev, Nikon, Rtishchev) advocated turning to Greek models and statutes. Essentially it was a dispute about Russia’s place in Orthodox world. Nikon believed that Russia, in order to fulfill its world mission, must internalize the values of Greek Orthodox culture. Avvakum believed that Russia did not need external borrowing. As a result, the point of view of Nikon, who became patriarch in 1652, won. At the same time, he began his reform, designed to eliminate differences in the rituals of the Eastern and Russian churches. This was also important in connection with the outbreak of the struggle with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for the annexation of Ukraine.

The changes affected the ritual side of the service: now instead of sixteen bows it was necessary to make four; to be baptized not with two, but with three fingers (those who refused to do this were excommunicated from the church from 1656); commit religious processions not in the sun, but against the sun; during the service, shout “Hallelujah” not twice, but three times, etc. Since 1654, icons painted in the “Fryazhsky”, that is, foreign style, began to be confiscated.

A large-scale “book right” has also begun. A new Service Book was introduced into church use, based on the Greek edition of 1602. This caused many discrepancies with Russian liturgical books. Thus, the correction of books, carried out according to modern Greek models, in practice did not take into account not only the ancient Russian manuscript tradition, but also the ancient Greek manuscripts.

Such changes were perceived by many believers as an encroachment on the purity of Orthodoxy and caused protest, which led to a split in the church and society.

Split

Officially, the schism as a religious and social movement existed since the Council of 1667 decided to condemn and excommunicate adherents of the old rites - the Old Believers - as people who refused to obey authority official church. In fact, it appeared from the beginning of Nikon’s reforms.

Historians define the causes, content and significance of this phenomenon in different ways. Some view the schism as an exclusively church movement defending the “old times,” while others see it as a complex sociocultural phenomenon in the form of church protest.

The Old Believers included representatives of different groups of the population: white and black clergy, boyars, townspeople, archers, Cossacks, and peasants. According to various estimates, from one quarter to one third of the population went into schism.

Leaders of the schism

The largest representative of the early Old Believers was Archpriest Avvakum Petrov. He became practically the first opponent of Nikon's reform. In 1653, he was sent into exile in Siberia, where he endured severe hardships and suffering for his faith. In 1664 he returned to Moscow, but was soon exiled to the North again. At the Church Council of 1666, he and his associates were stripped of their hair, anathematized and exiled to Pustozersk. The place of exile became the ideological center of the Old Believers, from where messages from the Pustozero elders were sent throughout Russia. In 1682, Avvakum and his fellow prisoners were executed by burning in a log house. Avvakum’s views were reflected in his works: “The Book of Conversations”, “The Book of Interpretations and Moral Teachings”, “The Book of Reproofs”, and the autobiographical “Life”.

In the second half of the 17th century, a number of bright schism teachers appeared - Spiridon Potemkin, Ivan Neronov, Lazar, Epiphanius, Nikita Pustoyasvyat, etc. A special place among them were women, primarily the boyarina. She made her house in Moscow a stronghold of the Old Believers. In 1671 she was imprisoned in an earthen prison, where she died in 1675. Her sister E.P. died along with her. Urusova and Maria Danilova.

The largest protest against the reforms was. Nikon's opponents flocked to the city, and together with the monks they fought against the tsarist troops for eight years.

Ideology of the split

The ideological basis of the Old Believers was the doctrine of the “Third Rome” and “The Tale of the White Cowl,” condemned by the council of 1666-1667. Since Nikon’s reform destroyed true Orthodoxy, the Third Rome, that is, Moscow, found itself on the verge of destruction, the coming of the Antichrist and the end of the world. Apocalyptic sentiments occupied an important place in the early Old Believers. The question of the date of the end of the world was raised. Several interpretations have appeared about the coming of the Antichrist: according to some, he has already come into the world in the person of Nikon, according to others, Nikon was only his forerunner, according to others, a “mental” Antichrist already exists in the world. If the Third Rome fell and there was no fourth, it means that sacred history ended, the world turned out to be forsaken by God, therefore the supporters old faith must leave the world, flee into the “desert”. The places where the schismatics fled were the Kerzhenets area Nizhny Novgorod region, Poshekhonye, Pomorie, Starodubye, Urals, Trans-Urals, Don.

The Old Believers attached great importance to preserving the inviolability of rituals not only in their content, but also in their form. Nikon's innovations, they believed, were destroying the canon, and therefore the faith itself. Also, the schismatics did not recognize the priesthood of the Russian Church, which, in their opinion, had lost grace. But at the same time, the Old Believers did not doubt the divinity royal power and hoped that the king would come to his senses.

Old Believers defended the traditional system cultural values, opposing the spread of secular education and culture. For example, Avvakum denied science and spoke extremely negatively about new trends in painting.

Thus, saving national tradition in the spirit of the Old Believers was fraught with spiritual conservatism and separation from cultural progress for its adherents.

The practice of self-immolation

Broad eschatological sentiments among the Old Believers led many to an extreme form of denial of the world in which the Antichrist reigned - namely, to leaving it through self-immolation. Many “burnings” were committed in response to persecution by the authorities. By the end of the 17th century, more than 20 thousand people died in this way. Archpriest Avvakum considered “fiery baptism” the path to purification and eternal bliss. Some cleavers were against the practice of "garei", such as the monk Euphrosynus. But in the last decades of the 17th century, Habakkuk’s view prevailed.

Section of the Old Believers

At the end of the 17th century, the Old Believers were divided into priests, who recognized the institution of the priesthood and accepted repentant priests Orthodox Church, and the Bespopovtsy, who denied the existing church hierarchy and retained only baptism and confession from the sacraments. These two movements, in turn, gave rise to many opinions and agreements that determined the development of the Old Believers in the 18th-19th centuries.

The split of the Russian Church in the 17th century is a truly tragic page in the history of our country. The consequences of the split have not yet been overcome.

The first meeting in history between the Pope 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 bring everything to peace. Separation christian church into the Catholic and Orthodox branches occurred due to disagreements in the interpretation of the “Symbol of Faith.” So because single word According to which the Son of God became another source of the Holy Spirit, the church was divided into two parts. The Great Schism was preceded by less, which ultimately led to the modern state of affairs.

Church schism in 1054: 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.

The first preconditions for the schism began in 863. For several years, Orthodox and Catholics were in confrontation. The events went down in history as the Photius Schism. The two ruling church leaders wanted to divide the lands, but did not agree. The official reason was doubts about the legality of the election of Patriarch Photius.
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.
In 1053, another formal reason for the future stood out clearly. Great Schism- dispute about unleavened bread. The Orthodox used leavened bread for the sacrament of Eucharast, and the Catholics used unleavened bread.
In 1054, Pope Leo XI sent Cardinal Humbert to Constantinople. The reason was the closure of Latin churches in the capital of Orthodoxy that occurred a year earlier. The Holy Gifts were thrown away and trampled underfoot due to the unleavened method of preparing bread.
The papal claims to the lands were justified by a forged document. The Vatican was interested in receiving military support from Constantinople, and this was main reason pressure exerted on the Patriarch.
After the death of Pope Leo XI, his legates nevertheless decided to excommunicate and depose the leader of the Orthodox. 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 religious leaders of that time saw this as acceptable. Only in 1965 did Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras lift the mutual excommunication of churches.

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

A thousand years of existence without reference to the Vatican has strengthened the separation of two approaches to Christian history and worship of God.
The Orthodox Church has never become united: there are many organizations in different countries, headed by their Patriarchs.
Catholic leaders realized that it would be impossible to subdue or destroy the branch. They recognized the enormity of the new religion, equal to their own.

The split of Christianity into Orthodoxy and Catholicism did not prevent believers from glorifying the Creator. Let representatives of one confession perfectly pronounce and recognize dogmas that are unacceptable to another. Sincere love for God has no religious boundaries. Let Catholics immerse 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 decoration of the temple they previously visited. There are many things that unite Catholics and Orthodox Christians. First of all, it is the Word of Christ, which is followed with humility in the soul. It’s easy to find heresy, it’s more difficult to understand and forgive, to see in everyone a creation of God and one’s neighbor. The main purpose of the Church is to be a shepherd for the people and a shelter for the disadvantaged.

Schism of the Christian Church (1054)

Schism of the Christian Church in 1054, Also Great Schism- church schism, after which division finally occurred Churches on Roman Catholic Church on West And Orthodox- on East centered at Constantinople.

HISTORY OF THE SCHIPT

In fact, disagreements between pope And Patriarch of Constantinople started long before 1054 , however, it is in 1054 Roman Pope Leo IX sent to Constantinople legates led by Cardinal Humbert to resolve the conflict, which began with the closure of 1053 Latin churches in Constantinople by order Patriarch Michael Kirulariy, at which it Sacellarium Konstantin thrown out of tabernacles Holy Sacrament, prepared according to Western custom from unleavened bread, and trampled them underfoot

[ [ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10273a.htm Mikhail Kirulariy (English)] ].

However, it was not possible to find a path to reconciliation, and July 16, 1054 in the cathedral Hagia Sophia papal legates announced on the deposition of Kirularius and him excommunication. In response to this July 20 the patriarch betrayed anathema to legates. The split has not yet been overcome, although in 1965 mutual curses were lifted.

REASONS FOR THE SPIT

The split had many reasons:

ritual, dogmatic, ethical differences between western And Eastern Churches , property disputes, the struggle between the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople for championship among Christian patriarchs, different languages worship services

(Latin in the Western Church and Greek in eastern).

POINT OF VIEW OF THE WESTERN (CATHOLIC) CHURCH

The letter of excommunication was handed over July 16, 1054 in Constantinople V Sophia Church on the holy altar during the service of legate of the Pope Cardinal Humbert.

Letter of excommunication contained the following charges to eastern church:

PERCEPTION OF THE SCHIPT in Rus'

After leaving Constantinople, the papal legates went to Rome in a roundabout way to notify of excommunication Mikhail Kirularia other eastern hierarchs. Among other cities they visited Kyiv, Where With were received with due honors by the Grand Duke and the Russian clergy .

In subsequent years Russian Church did not take a clear position in support of any of the parties to the conflict, although it remained Orthodox. If hierarch of Greek origin were prone to anti-Latin polemic, then actually Russian priests and rulers not only did they not participate in it, but also did not understand the essence of the dogmatic and ritual claims made by the Greeks against Rome.

Thus, Rus' maintained communication with both Rome and Constantinople, making certain decisions depending on political necessity.

Twenty years after "division of churches" there was a significant conversion case Grand Duke of Kyiv (Izyaslav-Dimitri Yaroslavich ) to authority Pope St. Gregory VII. In his feud with younger brothers for Kyiv throne Izyaslav, the legitimate prince, was forced run abroad(V Poland and then in Germany), from where he appealed in defense of his rights to both heads of the medieval "Christian republic" - To to the emperor(Henry IV) and to dad.

Princely Embassy V Rome headed it son Yaropolk -Peter who had an assignment “to give all Russian land under the protection of St. Petra" . Dad really intervened in the situation Rus'. In the end, Izyaslav returned to Kyiv(1077 ).

Myself Izyaslav and him son Yaropolk canonized Russian Orthodox Church .

Near 1089 V Kyiv To Metropolitan John the embassy has arrived Antipope Guibert (Clement III), apparently wanting to strengthen his position at the expense of his confessions in Rus'. John being by birth Greek, responded with a message, although composed in the most respectful terms, but still directed against "misconceptions" Latins(this is the first time non-apocryphal scripture "against the Latins", compiled on Rus', although not by a Russian author). However, the successor John a, Metropolitan Ephraim (Russian by origin) himself sent to Rome a trusted person, probably with the aim of personally verifying the state of affairs on the spot;

V 1091 this messenger returned to Kyiv And “bring many relics of saints” . Then, according to Russian chronicles, ambassadors from dads came to 1169 . IN Kyiv there were Latin monasteries(including Dominican- With 1228 ), on lands subject to Russian princes, acted with their permission Latin missionaries(so, in 1181 Princes of Polotsk allowed Augustinian monks from Bremen baptize those under their control Latvians And Livs on the Western Dvina).

The upper class included (to the displeasure Greeks) numerous mixed marriages. Great Western influence is noticeable in some areas of church life. Similar situation remained until Tatar-Mongolian invasions.

REMOVAL OF MUTUAL ANATHEMAS

IN 1964 year in Jerusalem a meeting took place between Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, head Orthodox Church of Constantinople And by Pope Paul VI, as a result of which mutual anathemas were filmed in 1965 year was signed Joint Declaration

[ [ http://www.krotov.info/acts/20/1960/19651207.html Declaration on the lifting of anathemas] ].

However, this formal "gesture of goodwill" had no practical or canonical significance.

WITH Catholic points of view remain valid and cannot be canceled anathemas First Vatican Council against all who deny the doctrine of the primacy of the Pope and the infallibility of his judgments on matters of faith and morals, pronounced "ex cathedra"(that is, when Dad acts as earthly head and mentor of all Christians), as well as a number of other dogmatic decrees.

John Paul II was able to cross the threshold Vladimir Cathedral V Kyiv accompanied by leadership unrecognized others Orthodox churches Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate .

A April 8, 2005 for the first time in history Orthodox Church in Vladimir Cathedral passed funeral service committed by representatives Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate head of the Roman Catholic Church .

Literature

[http://www.krotov.info/history/08/demus/lebedev03.html Lebedev A.P. History of the division of churches in the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries. St. Petersburg 1999 ISBN 5-89329-042-9],

[http://www.agnuz.info/book.php?id=383&url=page01.htm Taube M. A. Rome and Rus' in the pre-Mongol period] .