What is the main conflict between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church?

Answer 1

A split in the authority. The Catholic Church is under the authority of the Pope. The Orthodox Church has a different authority.

Catholic AnswerPlease get the small book (it's an abridgment) The Russian Church and the Papacy by Vladimir Soloviev, it is available from Catholic Answers for only $2 and it will answer all the questions you may have ever had about the Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church. The main problem is that firstly, there is no "Orthodox Church" there are only Orthodox Churches, which are nationalist, the Russian Orthodox, the Greek Orthodox, the Ukrainian Orthodox, etc. The Orthodox Churches have been steered into heresy from the fourth century onwards by their secular leaders. They have turned to Rome again and again over the centuries to have Rome solve their problems, and then immediately turned again to their national leaders. This has been an ongoing problem for sixteen centuries now, and Vladimir Soloviev, who was raised, and grew to adulthood in the Russian Orthodox Church was the single most acclaimed theologian since St. Thomas Aquinas. His works were cited frequently by Blessed John Paul II, and by Orthodox theologians, he was the brightest star in the ecumenical movement all through the 19th century. The main problem with the Orthodox Churches is that they are national Churches, and are not in communion with Rome anymore. Vladimir Soloviev expounds this thesis in a wonderful, profound, and easy to understand manner. See link below.

Answer 2

It had to do with the Nicene Creed: It originally said that the Holy Spirit "Proceeds from the Father," but, in the 10'Th Century, the Pope added "and the Son." The Orthodox Patriarchs did not believe that the Pope was within his right to do that, so they excommunicated him. The Pope in turn, excommunicated the Orthodox Patriarchs, for not acknowledging his Supremacy, as the Successor of St. Peter the Apostle.

Answer 3

These included whether a priest could marry, who should lead the church (papal supremacy) and whether purgatory existed.

In addition to the rather more abtruse matter of the filioque (a papal change to the Nicene Creed), the main difference is in their attitude towards the roll of the papacy. Both Catholics and Orthodox Christians recognize the primacy of the pope, but the Orthodox consider this a primacy of honor while the Catholics consider it a primacy of jurisdiction. This has serious practical implications, because in the case of the primacy of jurisdiction the pope could legislate for the whole Church whereas in the case of primacy of honor, there is a much lesser roll for the pope.

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There were a few other lesser reasons, such as the use of unleavened bread, the laity receiving communion as bread only, rather than bread and wine together, the separation of baptism and confirmation, the compulsory celibacy of Catholic clergy, the use of statues, and not allowing divorced people to re-marry.

Catholic Answer

Roman is an epithet first commonly used in England after the protestant revolt to describe the Catholic Church. It is never used by the Catholic Church

The sources of tension were many, and were primarily political. The exact reasons latched onto for the actual split were the use of leavened bread in the East and the removal of the Holy Father's name from the diptychs.

from

A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, Second edition, revised 1957

The Schism of the East

the estrangement and severance from the Holy See of what is now called the Orthodox Eastern Church was a gradual process extending over centuries. After a number of minor schisms the first serious, though short, break was that of Photius; from then on tension between East and West increased, and the schism of Cerularius occurred in 1054. From then on the breach gradually widened and has been definitive since 1472. There was a formal union from the 2nd Council of Lyons in 1274 until 1282, and a more promising one after the Council of Florence from 1439 to 1472. After the capture of Constantinople it was in the Turkish interest to reopen and widen the breach with the powerful Roman church; the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem were dragged into this policy, Russia and the Slav churches stood out the longest of any: none of these churches, except Constantinople itself in 1472, formally and definitely broke away from the unity of the Church. But in the course of centuries the schism has set and crystallized into a definite separation from the Holy See of many million people with a true priesthood and valid sacraments. The origins, causes and development of the schism are matters of much complication, still not fully unraveled.

from

Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980

Separation of the Christian Churches of the East from unity with Rome. The schism was centuries in the making and finally became fixed in 1054, when the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularisu (died 1059), was excommunicated by the papal legates for opposing the use of leavened bread by the Latin Church and removing the Pope's name from the diptychs or list of persons to be prayed for in the Eucharistic liturgy. A temporary reunion with Rome was effected by the Second Council of Lyons (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439) but never stabilized

The Orthodox Church rejected the Papal claims of supremacy over all Christians.

The three major points of disagreement were:

• Whether purgatory existed
• Who should lead the church
• Whether priests could marry

Answer 4

The relationship of primacy and synodality/collegiality, especially at the universal level (i.e., the role of the bishop of Rome).

The sources of tension and disagreement were many, and were primarily political, not theological. The exact reasons latched onto for the actual split were the use of leavened bread in the East and the removal of the Holy Father's name from the diptychs.

from A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, Second edition, revised 1957 The Schism of the East

the estrangement and severance from the Holy See of what is now called the Orthodox Eastern Church was a gradual process extending over centuries. After a number of minor schisms the first serious, though short, break was that of Photius; from then on tension between East and West increased, and the schism of Cerularius occurred in 1054. From then on the breach gradually widened and has been definitive since 1472. There was a formal union from the 2nd Council of Lyons in 1274 until 1282, and a more promising one after the Council of Florence from 1439 to 1472. After the capture of Constantinople it was in the Turkish interest to reopen and widen the breach with the powerful Roman church; the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem were dragged into this policy, Russia and the Slav churches stood out the longest of any: none of these churches, except Constantinople itself in 1472, formally and definitely broke away from the unity of the Church. But in the course of centuries the schism has set and crystallized into a definite separation from the Holy See of many million people with a true priesthood and valid sacraments. The origins, causes and development of the schism are matters of much complication, still not fully unraveled.

from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980 Separation of the Christian Churches of the East from unity with Rome. The schism was centuries in the making and finally became fixed in 1054, when the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularisu (died 1059), was excommunicated by the papal legates for opposing the use of leavened bread by the Latin Church and removing the Pope's name from the diptychs or list of persons to be prayed for in the Eucharistic liturgy. A temporary reunion with Rome was effected by the Second Council of Lyons (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439) but never stabilized

Answer

The disagreement was mainly about the primacy of the Bishop of Rome where the Pope is considered to be over all other bishops in terms of his authority as the head of the Church's hierarchy. The Eastern Orthodox didn't believe that the pope should have more authority over the Church and over the other bishops but rather to be the first among all equal bishops. There are/were other different disagreements between the Churches such as use of Latin in the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church, whether to use leavened or unleavened bread in the Eucharist, but the issue of the primacy of the Pope is the main disagreement between the two Churches which keeps us separated.

Answer 5

The primary disagreement between the Churches was political, the Eastern Churches not wanting to give fealty to the West. Since the actual split of the Eastern Churches (each eastern Rite split in two, thus there is now a Greek Orthodox Church and a Greek Uniate Church, the later part of the worldwide Catholic Church) gave rise to numerous small arguments, such as leavened vs. unleavened bread, but none of these issues actually caused the split.
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from A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, Second edition, revised 1957
The Schism of the East
The estrangement and severance from the Holy See of what is now called the Orthodox Eastern Church was a gradual process extending over centuries. After a number of minor schisms the first serious, though short, break was that of Photius; from then on tension between East and West increased, and the schism of Cerularius occurred in 1054.

From then on the breach gradually widened and has been definitive since 1472. There was a formal union from the 2nd Council of Lyons in 1274 until 1282, and a more promising one after the Council of Florence from 1439 to 1472. After the capture of Constantinople it was in the Turkish interest to reopen and widen the breach with the powerful Roman church; the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem were dragged into this policy, Russia and the Slav churches stood out the longest of any: none of these churches, except Constantinople itself in 1472, formally and definitely broke away from the unity of the Church.

But in the course of centuries the schism has set and crystallized into a definite separation from the Holy See of many million people with a true priesthood and valid sacraments. The origins, causes and development of the schism are matters of much complication, still not fully unraveled.

from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980

Separation of the Christian Churches of the East from unity with Rome. The schism was centuries in the making and finally became fixed in 1054, when the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularisu (died 1059), was excommunicated by the papal legates for opposing the use of leavened bread by the Latin Church and removing the Pope's name from the diptychs or list of persons to be prayed for in the Eucharistic liturgy. A temporary reunion with Rome was effected by the Second Council of Lyons (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439) but never stabilized.

Answer 6

This is a long and sordid tale, the pat answers of the filoque clause and unleavened versus leavened bread are ignorant answers that ignore the real and historical problems that the Orthodox have always had with the Catholic Church. The Orthodox are a loose group of national Churches which have always put national interests ahead of doctrine, this has been true stretching far back into the first millennium. Please get Vladimir Soloviev's book on Russian Orthodoxy. Vladimir Soloviev was brought up in the Russian Orthodox Church, and he writes from that perspective, but his analysis is true for all the Orthodox Churches. Catholic Answers has reprinted his book at a very reasonable cost for all those interested in the Orthodox/Catholic problems. One thing that we have to keep in mind in looking at this problem is that after the Orthodox split from the Church, a group of each Rite stayed with the Catholic Church, thus we now have a Greek Orthodox Church and a Greek Uniate Church (the later still in communion with Rome). As this is true across the board, it gives the lie to the story that Rome split from the Orthodox, the Orthodox being only a collection of national Churches, each having a group still in communion with the Holy Father in Rome.

Answer 7

Perhaps the most controversial point was the updating of the calendar and the correct dating of Easter. It took several hundred years for the (Catholic) church to accept and correct the accumulative errors of the Julian calendar. The breakaway Protestant religions and countries refused to accept an edict passed by Pope Gregory XIII.

Answer 8

The relationship of primacy and synodality/collegiality, especially at the universal level (i.e., the role of the bishop of Rome) was one major point of disagreement.

The sources of tension and disagreement were many, and were primarily political, not theological. The exact reasons latched onto for the actual split were the use of leavened bread in the East and the removal of the Holy Father's name from the diptychs.

from A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, Second edition, revised 1957 The Schism of the East
the estrangement and severance from the Holy See of what is now called the Orthodox Eastern Church was a gradual process extending over centuries. After a number of minor schisms the first serious, though short, break was that of Photius; from then on tension between East and West increased, and the schism of Cerularius occurred in 1054. From then on the breach gradually widened and has been definitive since 1472. There was a formal union from the 2nd Council of Lyons in 1274 until 1282, and a more promising one after the Council of Florence from 1439 to 1472. After the capture of Constantinople it was in the Turkish interest to reopen and widen the breach with the powerful Roman church; the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem were dragged into this policy, Russia and the Slav churches stood out the longest of any: none of these churches, except Constantinople itself in 1472, formally and definitely broke away from the unity of the Church. But in the course of centuries the schism has set and crystallized into a definite separation from the Holy See of many million people with a true priesthood and valid sacraments. The origins, causes and development of the schism are matters of much complication, still not fully unraveled.
from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980 Separation of the Christian Churches of the East from unity with Rome. The schism was centuries in the making and finally became fixed in 1054, when the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularisu (died 1059), was excommunicated by the papal legates for opposing the use of leavened bread by the Latin Church and removing the Pope's name from the diptychs or list of persons to be prayed for in the Eucharistic liturgy. A temporary reunion with Rome was effected by the Second Council of Lyons (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439) but never stabilized

Answer 9

Whether or not purgatory existed.