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What caused the East-West Schism in the Catholic Church?

The East-West Schism (split) of the Catholic Church was caused by cultural, geographical, and political differences. The beginnings of the schism dates back to as early as the division of the Roman Empire in A.D. 375 by Emperor Theodosius. He divided the empire into the Eastern and Western Roman Empires and moved the capital city from Rome to Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey). As a result of this division, an informal split within the Catholic Church took place leading to the formation of an Eastern Church in Constantinople and a Western Church in Rome.

This informal split deepened in the 800s when a series of disputes arose between the pope, the head of the Catholic Church, and the patriarch of Constantinople (also called the ecumenical patriarch), head of the Catholic Church in the East. The issue was the pope's authority over...

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