The visit by Pope John Paul II to an Orthodox country again brings to the foreground the centuries-old fissure between the Western and Eastern Christian churches, which even in the 21st Century remains a defining theme in Europe. IVAN VATAHOV delved into the history books, and the Encyclopaedia Britannica, to trace the story of the ancient schism.

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The schism - how it all began?

An astonishing number of religious groups today claim to be the successors of the early church. A "yardstick for truth" is needed by which to compare what the church originally believed and practiced with what these groups proclaim. Certainly we all have the right to believe whatever we choose. But it is also just good sense to be acquainted with the options before we make our final choices.

In the beginning there was only one Christian church that dated back to the holy apostles. Even the first head of the church was St. Peter, one of the 12 men who followed Jesus Christ. And the unity of this church was never challenged, until the Christian religion became part of the state and the politics. Then there was the schism...

The oldest conflict

In the early church, "schism" was used to describe those groups that broke with the church and established rival churches. The term originally referred to those divisions that were caused by disagreement over something other than basic doctrine. Thus, the schismatic group was not necessarily heretical.

Eventually, however, the distinctions between schism and heresy gradually became less clear, and disruptions in the church caused by disagreements over doctrine as well as disruptions caused by other disagreements were eventually all referred to as schismatic.

Perhaps, the oldest schism mentioned in history books was the Acacian Schism (484-519) that represented a split between the patriarchate of Constantino-ple and the Roman See, caused by an edict by Byzantine patriarch Acacius that was deemed inadmissible by Pope Felix III.

With the support of the Byzantine emperor Zeno, Acacius in 482 drew up an edict, the Henotikon ("Edict of Union" in Greek), by which he attempted to secure unity between orthodox Christians and monophysites. The Henotikon's theological formula incorporated the decisions of the general Councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381) and recognised Christ's divinity, but it omitted any reference to the orthodox distinction of Christ's human and divine essences, as enunciated by the Council of Chalcedon (451), and in so doing made important concessions to the monophysites.

The Henotikon was widely accepted in the East but proved unacceptable to Rome and the Western church. Consequently, Acacius was deposed (484) by Pope Felix III in an excommunication that was reaffirmed and broadened in 485 to embrace all of Acacius' associates, including a substantial part of the Byzantine hierarchy. The condemnation by Pope Felix precipitated the Acacian Schism, which was not resolved until 519.

The Photian schism - the Bulgarian contribution

The end of iconoclasm (843) left a legacy of factionalism. Ignatius, patriarch of Constantinople intermittently from 847 to 877, was exiled by the government in 858 and replaced by Photius, a scholarly layman who was head of the imperial chancery. He was elected patriarch and ordained within six days.

Ignatius' supporters dissuaded Pope Nicholas I (reigned 858-867) from recognising Photius. Nicholas was angered by Byzantine missions among the Bulgarians, whom he regarded as belonging to his sphere. When Nicholas wrote to the Bulgarians attacking Greek practices, Photius replied by accusing the West of heretically altering the creed in saying that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and from the Son. He declared Pope Nicholas deposed (867), but his position was not strong enough for such imprudence.

The new emperor, Basil the Macedonian, reinstated Ignatius; and in 869 Nicholas' successor, Adrian II (reigned 867-872), condemned Photius and sent legates to Constantinople to extort submission to papal supremacy from the Greeks. The Greeks resented the papal demands, and when Ignatius died in 877 Photius quietly became patriarch again.

Rome (at that moment needing Byzantine military support against Muslims in Sicily and southern Italy) reluctantly agreed to recognise Photius, but on the condition of an apology and of the withdrawal of Greek missions to the Bulgarians. Photius acknowledged Rome as the first see of Christendom, discreetly said nothing explicitly against the Holy Spirit clause, and agreed to the provision that the Bulgarians could be put under Roman jurisdiction providing that Greek missions were allowed to continue…

You can read the whole Big Story in Issue 21 of The Sofia Echo.