Division/cause of conflict between Catholics and Orthodox
Catholicism is one of the oldest religions in the world dating back to the early 1st to 2nd century AD. Catholicism is evident in the foundation of other religions. For example, The Orthodox Church has many traditions that link back to Catholicism, for instance the offertory is something that is “inherited” from the Catholicism tradition to the Orthodox Tradition. The Orthodox Church has a great dislike for the Catholic Church.
Now even though some people believe that this dislike between Catholics and the Orthodox Church is not needed or not necessary, this is not the case. The Orthodox Church is actually a “broken branch” of Catholicism, breaking away from the Catholic tradition back in approximately 1054 A.D; there are several reasons that the Orthodox Church broke away from Catholic tradition. One of the first “causes for conflict” was when Emperor Constantius appointed an Arian heretic. This was an issue in some people’s minds because the main job of the Vatican in the aftermath of the fall of the Roman Empire was stop heresies and people, whom were deemed unholy but the Catholic Church, to gain power. Another issue was when Catholic Normans invaded Byzantine-Rite Greek in Southern Italy and compelled the communities to use the Latin-Rite custom of using unleavened bread for Eucharist. Michael Cerularius, whom at the time was the Patriarch of Constantinople, heard about what was happening in the South of Italy; so in response he made it law that all Latin Churches in Constantinople were to be closed. Referring to one of the points above was the use of unleavened bread versus the use-leavened bread. The difference between the two is quite small but to the two different religions it makes a massive difference. Leavened bread is bread that is made with the use of yeast, whilst unleavened bread is made without the use of yeast. The Orthodox Church uses leavened bread because they believe that the bread used in the Eucharist is like a living soul, and without the yeast they see it as just normal bread, whilst with yeast it is therefore “living bread.” Another deep and more understandable reason for conflict is that the Orthodox Church does not believe that the Pope, or the head of all Catholicism, is someone who has complete control over Catholicism. Instead they see him as someone who is “first among equals”, which means that he is on the same level as everyone else, but he is still respected and considered a very important part of global Catholicism. |
Bibliography
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Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism 2015, accessed 3rd September 2015, http://oca.org/questions/romancatholicism
Leavened Bread vs. Unleavened 2015, accessed 3rd September 2015, https://oca.org/questions/divineliturgy/leavened-bread-vs.-unleavened
Lizzie Dearden 2014, The Pope told Catholics that pride stops them recognising their companions, Photograph, accessed 5th September 2015, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-i-believe-in-guardian-angelsand-everyone-should-listen-to-their-advice-9772622.html
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Religions of the World: Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christianity 2012, Youtube, 29th October, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7cUuxh3CYY