Theological differences between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church

The Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church have been in a state of official schism from one another, with a few short-lived reunifications (such as after the Council of Florence) since the East–West Schism of 1054. That original schism was exacerbated by historical and language differences, and the ensuing theological differences between the Western and Eastern churches.

The main theological differences with the Catholic Church are the papal primacy and the '' filioque'' clause. In spirituality, the tenability of neo-Palamism's essence-energy distinction and of the experiential vision of God as attained in ''theoria'' and ''theosis'' are actively debated.

Although the 21st century saw a growth of anti-western sentiments with the rise of neo-Palamism, "the future of East–West rapprochement appears to be overcoming the modern polemics of neo-scholasticism and neo-Palamism".Michael J. Christensen, Jeffery A. Wittung (editors), ''Partakers of the Divine Nature''
(Associated University Presses 2007 ), p. 244 Since the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church has generally taken the approach that the schism is primarily ecclesiological in nature, that the doctrinal teachings of the Eastern Orthodox churches are generally sound, and that "the vision of the full communion to be sought is that of unity in legitimate diversity" as before the division.

Areas of doctrinal agreement

Both churches accept the decisions of the first seven Ecumenical Councils of the undivided Church. These are:

There is therefore doctrinal agreement on:

Both churches reject many novel Protestant doctrines, some important examples of which are the teachings of salvation through faith alone and ''sola scriptura''.

East–West Schism

The Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church have been in a state of official schism from one another since the East–West Schism of 1054. This schism was caused by historical and language differences, and the ensuing theological differences between the Western and Eastern churches.

The Byzantine Empire permanently withdrew from the City of Rome in 751, thus ending the Byzantine Papacy. The subsequent mutual alienation of the Greek-speaking East and the Latin-speaking West led to increasing ignorance of the theological and ecclesiological developments of each tradition.

The Eastern Church and the Western Church used respectively Greek and Latin as its medium of communication. Translations did not always correspond exactly. This also led to misunderstandings.

Papal primacy

Papal primacy, also known as the "primacy of the Bishop of Rome," is an ecclesiastical

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