Both the Orthodox and Catholics started at the same time, in the year 33 AD, when there was no such thing as Orthodox and Catholic, and there was only the Universal Christian Church. So they both shared a common foundation for the first 1,000 years of their history.
The year 1054 AD is generally regarded as the final date of the split in the Universal Church, which began to separate from the year 800 AD when Charlemagne set himself up as a rival king to the Eastern Roman Emperor. The year 800 marks the beginning of the separation between the Latin West and the Orthodox East, which concluded in 1054 with the mutual excommunications by Cardinal Humbertus and Patriarch Michael Cerularius of Constantinople in the Church of Hagia Sophia.
From 1054 the Western Christians became known as Roman Catholics and the Eastern Christians became known as the Orthodox Church.
There were two main churches: Roman Catholic and Orthodox. - UPDATE - Actually there were three main churches at the time, the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox Church. The Oriental Orthodox Church was the first church to break away from the Orthodox Church (Eastern Orthodox Church) in 451AD followed by the Roman Catholic Church in 1054AD.
The Byzantine army supported the emperor. There was a schism between the Catholic and Orthodox churches in the eleventh century. From that time onward the emperor was seen as the head of the Orthodox church, and the Pope as the head of the Catholic church.
The Roman Catholic Church is normally known for using fresco's and Statues in their churches. Whereas The Eastern Orthodox Church uses mosaics and icons, with a small percentage of the time they will also use fresco's .
In all of Europe before the eleventh century, the Roman Church was most powerful. In 1056, the Great Schism, which had been coming to a head for hundreds of years, split the Church into the Roman Catholic Church, in the West, and the Eastern Orthodox Church, in the East, and each of these was most powerful in its own sphere.
Protestant churches had barely begun during the Middle Ages. The most powerful Church was the orthodox Christian Church. At the Great Schism, it separated into the Roman Catholic Church, which was arguably the larger, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. From a time before the fall of the Roman Empire, there were always also other, smaller church organizations, such as the Coptic Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches.
The Greek Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox Churches are now theologically the same but are separate because of the misunderstanding that happened in 451AD however both now see each others view on the nature of christ as truly ORTHODOX They both have apostolic succesion the Greek Orthodox founded by St.Andrew and the Coptic Orthodox founded by St.Mark.Both have presevered their native traditions and beliefs something that is sacred to all eastern churches
We do not know when the first schism in the Christian Church occurred. Even in the time of Saint Paul, he talks of opponents and those who taught a "different Christ". By the beginning of the second century, and probably earlier, Christianity was divided along two major lines: what is sometimes now called the proto-Catholic-Orthodox Church and the Gnostic Churches. Marcion made his break from Rome in the middle of the second century. The split of the Coptic Church from the Catholic-Orthodox Church occurred in 451 CE. The Great Schism of 1054 separated the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The Western Schism of the fourteenth century temporarily split the Catholic Church. The Protestant Reformation was the next major schism, in the sixteenth century.
Oh, dude, technically speaking, it's a bit of a gray area. Like, in general, the Greek Orthodox Church has guidelines about who can receive communion, and typically, they prefer you to be a member of their church. So, like, if you're a Catholic popping in for a visit, they might not be too keen on you joining in on the communion party. But hey, if you're really craving that Eucharist, maybe give them a heads up and see what they say.
Neither. The Catholic church was part of a schism in the church prior to the formation of Protestant denominations.One Wikianswerers opinion:They are Catholic, I was talking to a priest the other day, to learn more of the Catholic beliefs I have been raised Baptist and was just wanting to learn..Catholic AnswerIf you wish to know more about the Catholic Church, ask a priest when the next RCIA class starts. It usually starts in August and runs until the following Easter. It is an Inquirer's class - people who are curious about the Catholic Church. .The Orthodox split from the Catholic Church in the 11th century, mostly over political problems that had been going on for quite some time. When they split, every Rite split in two. In other words, to this day, there is a Greek Orthodox Church, and a Greek Uniate Church. The Orthodox no longer acknowledge the Pope and the Uniate Churches do. But they all remain Catholic in the sense that they are a full Christian Church with a valid apostolic succession, and valid sacraments. If a Greek Orthodox wanted to become Catholic, he would make a profession of faith, but he would not be baptized or confirmed, as he received these sacraments in the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox isn't really "Catholic", but they are valid Church and they are in schism.Protestants, on the hand, are not valid churches, they do not have a valid priesthood and they do not have valid sacraments (save Baptism). They are heretics, not schismatics, they completely left the Church and lost the sacraments (save Baptism), the Church refers to them as ecclesial communities NOT Churches.
Communication was poor in those days, and when one pope died, by the time the word got out, Orthodox had chosen their pope, and Romans had chosen their pope. There cannot be two popes, and neither side would agree that the other side's pope was chosen by God.
The Eastern Orthodox faith was established in 1054 with the Great Schism. At this time, the East split from the West and established two churches: Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism.
It's just Catholic, not Roman Catholic. Roman is an epithet first commonly used in England after the protestant revolt to describe the Catholic Church. It is never used by the official Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is the only true Church which was established by Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, guaranteed by Him, and guided by His Holy Spirit. He set St. Peter and his successors over it as His vicar to guide it on earth. It preserves the entire teaching of the Lord and His Apostles, and He personally guaranteed that it would remain ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, AND APOSTOLIC, until the end of the world. It cannot err in matters of faith and morals. The Eastern Orthodox Christians are a group of national Churches that were founded individually in the 12th century from those Eastern Rites which left the Catholic Church at that time, and have been ruled by their respective governments. They have lost the guidance of the Holy Spirit, from that time, and, aside from the fact that they maintain a valid priesthood and sacraments, they have lost communion with the one Church of Christ, and have been insular, national churches on their respective countries (witness the Russian Orthodox Church). For a very thorough discussion of the status and scope of the problem please read Vladimir Soloview's The Russian Church and the Papacy, which addresses all these problems, and the dire straits that the Eastern Orthodox Churches are in right now. (Please see link below, as of my writing of this, Catholic Answers is offering this book for $2!) Please note that there are Eastern Rite Catholics, for nearly every Orthodox Church, who have remained in Communion with Rome and are still genuinely Catholic.