Great Schism

Hello, I'm Katie and today I will be interviewing Charles Caspian, who lived during the time of the Great Schism.

Katie: How did this all start out?
Charles: Since early Christian times, differences had emerged over Church leadership. Although the Byzantine emperor was not a priest, he controlled Church affairs and appointed the patriarch, which is the highest Church official in Constantinople. Byzantine Christians rejected the pope's claim to authority over all Christians. 
Katie: Can you explain what happened when the Church divided?
Charles: Well during the Middle Ages, the two branches of Christianity drew farther apart. A dispute over a use of icons, or holy images, contributed to the split. Many Byzantine Christians used images of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the saints in their worship. In the 700s, a Byznantine emperor outlawd the veneration of icons, saying it violated God's commandment against worshiping "graven images."
Katie: Obivously, the ban set off violent battles within the empire. How did the empire reach to this?

Charles: From the west, the pope joined in the dispute by condemning the Byzantine emperor. Although a later empress eventually restored the use of icons, the conflict left a great resentment against the pope in the Byzantine empire.

Katie: What happened in 1054?

Charles: Other controversies provoked a schism, or split between eastern and western Christianity, known as the Great Schism. The Byzantine church became known as the Eastern, or Greek, Orothodox Church. The western branch became known as the Roman Catholic Church. The pope and patriarch excommunicated each other. After this, contacts between the two churches were guarded and distant. They treated each other as rivals rather than as branches of the same faith.