The Great Schism Essay

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The Great Schism

A religion is thought to stick together, never fight, and always agree on things. In this case however, that is not how The Great Schism went down. The Catholic church made a compromise that still affects us today due to disagreements such as the role of the pope and the use of icons. According to The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, the main conflict or compromise related to this subject is the argument on the role of the pope and the excommunication (“The Schism of 1054”). Another conflict suggested by The editors at britannica, is the use of icons in the church (“Iconoclastic Controversy”). Yet another idea from the Finer times, is how they made the compromise (“The Great Schism”).

In the middle ages, the Roman Empire took many things into consideration when deciding to divide the churches. Such as, how to make the compromise, how it would affect people in the future, and if choosing this was the best way to resolve the dispute over the role of the pope. The pope placing an excommunication influenced the split greatly. The calm west versus the violent problems of the eastern patriarchs, made the role of each pope stronger. Jealousy and interests made political disagreements worse and …show more content…

A lot of people were confused and worried about the divide of the church, but some were unbothered and wanted out of this disagreement. Neither of the Popes could take away the others power and neither wanted to give up their power. That created one of the most damaging schisms to happen. This situation had a big impact on the unity of the catholic church. The two popes were enemies in a sour and public dispute. Over time, more people were dragged into their fight, creating support in the split and not in the unity of the church. After the disagreements and the desire not to involve violence, the churches decided to part ways and run their church as they