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Schism of 1054

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Schism of 1054
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Event that separated the Byzantine and Roman churches. The Eastern and Western churches had long been estranged over doctrinal issues such as the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son. The Eastern church resented the Roman enforcement of clerical celibacy and the limitation of the right of confirmation to the bishop. There were also jurisdictional disputes between Rome and Constantinople, including Rome's assertion of papal primacy. In 1054 Pope Leo IX, through his representative Humbert of Silva Candida, and the patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, excommunicated each other, an event that marked the final break between the two churches. The rift widened in subsequent centuries, and the churches have remained separate, though the excommunications were lifted by the papacy and the patriarch in the 20th century. See also Eastern Orthodoxy; Roman Catholicism.

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