I am unsure when exactly the Eastern Orthodox believe true Schism happened but I know most Western Church Historians I have spoke to say there is no one exact moment Schism happened, it was more of a very gradual process that begun before 1054 and came to its climax much later (Iâve heard the Sack of Constantinople proposed for the final date) with us living with the out come to this day.
I am not certain of this, but I think that the crusades pretty much sealed the schism.
Most people will think âoh, those Orthodox can never forgive or forgetâ but thatâs not what I mean.
It was during the crusades that western soldiers were occupying major cities and deposing the bishops. It was only at that time that two separate church structures could be found together in the same locales. In fact it is still like that today.
Up until that time, if a westerner (a pilgrim perhaps, or a merchant) went east he would worship in the local church, and his bishop while he was there would be the local bishop. This was the same for eastern Christians who went west, to Spain or Italy or Gaul. You live in an area and you worship in the local church.
If a Spaniard goes to Italy, he worships in the local Italian church. If he goes on to Greece he worships in the local Greek church, then in Palestine just the same way.
That changed when the crusaders came through. They brought their own priests and bishops, like a military ordinariate, which served the troops and the commanders.
Ok so far, but with military successes the commanders placed Latin bishops over the eastern Christians, giving them the parish properties, the cathedrals and the episcopal residences. A bush church movement developed, and the Orthodox continued to function outside of the reach of the law. When the crusaders left they were back in business.
But they no longer saw the Latin westerners as co-religionists, they had become hostile aliens. To the Latin Catholics, the others were hostile natives. Each kept to their own churches.
It has strange parallels to the Irish Catholic church under the English protestant governments.
To this day the Latin church cares for itâs own in the middle east, it does not entrust them to the care of Eastern Catholic bishops, although it could. That newer separate and parallel ecclesiastical structure continues.
