...tter administration of the Empire. Moving the capital from Rome to Constantinople 330 as an obvious sign that the Roman emperor Constantine the Great anted to rene the Empire, to strengthen it, and this could be done only by getting rid of the past, ith its mentality. By this time Rome had already collapsed. This collapse as seen as the vengeance of God upon Rome, hich for centuries had persecuted Christianity E. Benz - The Eastern Orthodox Church p.176. The court and all the administration ere transferred to Costantinople, leaving Rome deserted. From no on the old capital as seen as a memory of a glorious past, hile Constantinople as seen as the ne heart of the Empire. The only authority left in Rome as papacy not being under the constant surveillance of the emperor the popes gained more and more poer, hich, unfortunately as not only religious , but also political. And so their poer spread in the hole est. ith the creation of the ne capital another question arises Ho important should the See of Constantinople be It as logical that no other see could be more important than the See of Constantinople, because it as the capital of the Empire. So it had to be equal to the see of the old capital. Of course, this did not please the popes. The alienation beteen East and est as also due to linguistic errors. Theological ritings ere misinterpreted by both sides, and letters ere not translated correctly. The most important cause of the schism as the religious one. In the East religious education as opened to everybody. Anyone could take part in theological debates, and even in the liturgy the laity had its role. In the est religious education as offered by clergy and for clergy and the liturgy as sung in a Latin hich most of the laity could not understand. So, as e can see, these elements contributed to the maintenance of the true faith in the East. Before the schism of 1054 there had been several temporary schism beteen the East and the est. One of those as hen the patriarch of Constantinople, John the Faster named himself ecumenical patriarch, in 595. Since Constantinople as the ecumenical capital, its patriarchate as ecumenical too.But this as more an honorific title. This upset pope Gregory I , ho called himself servus servorum Dei hich means servant of Gods servants I.Ramureanu -Istoria Bisericeasca Universala p. 231. As e can see this is a debate over primacy. Another argument for the schism is the introduction of the Filioque in the Creed. It as first mentioned at the first synod in Toledo 447 and than at the third synod of Toledo 589 after this it as introduced in France, Germany, England and Northern Italy. But, at first, the popes rejected it. Pope Leo III 795-816 ordered that the Creed, ithout the Filioque , should be ritten on to silver tables, in Greek and in Latin , and put at the entrance of St. Peters cathedral. Under them he rote I, Leo, have put these out of love and care for the orthodox faith. Filioque as officially introduced in the Roman-Catholic Church by pope Benedict VIII, in 1014. Another cause for the schism as the use of unleavened bread by the Latins. The Greeks used as an argument against this the fact that during the Last Supper, Jesus used Leavened bread as mentioned in the Bible. But there ere a lot of minor causes related to liturgical and dogmatic differences. Metropolitan Ilarion mentioned in his Podil Jedenoiy Hrestovoiy Tserkve other causes, such as the lack of Christian love among the Latins and the Greeks, and the utilization of false documents Donatio Constantini by the Latins. To better understand the events that lead to the Great Schism e have to take a look at the situation of the Church in Constantinople at the beginning of the ninth century . At this time there ere to religious parties the conservatives and the radicals. The conservatives ere mostly monks. The radicals ere more open-minded than the conservatives. These to parties ere in constant conflict. Such a conflict as the one beteen patriarchs Ignatius846-857 867-877 - a representative of the conservatives- and Photius 858-867 877-886-a representative of the radicals. Ignatius as appointed patriarch of Constantinople by empress Theodora. He as the leader of the conservatives and considered education as a barrier toards religion. A Greek riter, contemporary to Ignatius, Economos, characterized him as follos Optimus monachus, non optimus patriarchaMetropolitan Ilarion- Podil p.107 hich means The best monk, but not the best patriarch. Thus he as not much loved. In 857 he refused to offer communion to the emperors uncle, Vardas, because of some rumours according to hich the latter as living ith his sons ido. So he as deposed from the patriarchal see. In his place as appointed Photius, the chief secretary of the state, and , at the same time, the most educated person in the Byzantine Empire. In his ritings, Photius says that he as named patriarch of Constantinople against his ill. Beteen 20-25 December 857, he ent through all the orders, from monk to patriarch. The Ignatians, supporters of Ignatius, did not recognize the nely-elected patriarch, and appealed to pope Nicholas I 858-867 to make justice. In 860 , the pope sent legates to Constantinople to examine the situation. These legates brought ith them a letter for emperor Michael III , in hich the pope asks for his approval to be mediator beteen Photius and Ignatius, as he is the head of the Church. In 861 Photius called a synod. The Roman legates took part in it as ell. The synod condemned Ignatius, recognized Photius as patriarch of Constantinople, but does not accept the pope as the head of the Church. Pope Nicholas I, not being satisfied ith the decisions of that council , called another synod in Rome, in 863. This synod recognized Ignatius as the patriarch of Constantinople, anathemizing Photius and declared Romes primacy over the other patriarchates. One of the arguments the Latins used to anathemize Photius as his being appointed patriarch although he as a layman. This appointment as not completely correct, but there had been similar cases before Photius. In 866, the pope sent legates to Constantinople ith letters from him for the emperor and the patriarch, in hich he asked them to recognize his primacy. But these legates ere not alloed to enter Constantinople. In fact, the emperor and Photius asked Nicholas I not to interfere in the See of Constantinople. This situation as orsened by the situation of Bulgaria. Being a neighbour state of the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria anted to accept Christianity. So, Constantinople sent bishops and priests to convert the Bulgarians. But hen they asked for a bishop of their on and authonomy, and Byzantium does not accept this, they turn their attention to Rome. The pope gladly sent his men to re-baptize Bulgaria. As a reaction to this , Photius sent an encyclical letter to all the eastern patriarchs, in 867, in h...
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