Name: Turkiye: Catholic, Orthodox churches seek unity amid historical divide
Uploaded: 2025-11-27T16:24:36.204Z
Duration: 2 min 35 s
Description: The Catholics and Orthodox share a desire to heal a nearly 1,000 years split over the indivisibility of the Holy Trinity.

The Catholics and Orthodox share a desire to heal a nearly 1,000 years split over the indivisibility of the Holy Trinity.

Istanbul

The Catholic and Orthodox branches of Christianity, divided for nearly a thousand years, are seeking ways to foster unity. Key differences in doctrine and governance, such as the infallibility of the Pope and the structure of church leadership, have historically hindered reconciliation.

One practical step under consideration is the unification of the date for Easter celebrations, which leaders hope could symbolize greater unity among Christians. However, clerics caution that any agreement on this issue could risk further divisions within the Orthodox Church, which is composed of several national, self-governing bodies.

Turkiye: Catholic, Orthodox churches seek unity amid historical divide

Orthodoxy in the East, Catholicism in the West. The two main branches of Christianity have been split for nearly a thousand years. Orthodoxy and Catholicism are not only different in ceremony, they disagree on governance. Orthodoxy governs itself through a synod or council. In Catholicism, the Pope is supreme and infallible. I think the most important thing that gives us this difficulty of approach is the infallibility of the Pope, of the primate of the Roman Catholic Church, who is a successor of Peter, and he claims that he cannot be mistaken. This is impossible. There is no human being that can claim that cannot be mistaken. But beyond doctrine, there is a history of imperial politics. When Christianity was adopted as the official religion of the Roman Empire 17 centuries ago, the empire was becoming too big to be governed by one emperor and had just been split into two administrative regions, governed from Rome and Constantinople. Eventually, the two emperors fought over dominance, and so did the bishops. Nearly a thousand years ago, the Roman Church tore itself away in what became known as the Great Schism. That schism was underpinned by doctrinal differences over the nature of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In Orthodoxy, the Holy Spirit proceeds from God the Father through the Son to mankind. In Catholicism, it proceeds from the Father and the Son. Both formulations were attempts to stress the unity of the Holy Trinity, but they ended up causing division among clerics, and healing that is difficult. An easier goal would be to celebrate Easter on the same Sunday each year. There's an interest and intention to find a common date so all Christians can celebrate on the same day, giving a picture of unity. It'll certainly be discussed. We really hope that there will be a solution to this, which isn't a doctrinal issue. It's an issue of traditions. The date changes every year anyway, and we should find a solution to this. Pope Leo and Patriarch Bartholomew will be discussing that. But clerics warn that an agreement between them could split the Orthodox Church, which is made up of national self-governing churches. John Saropoulos, Algezira, Athens.

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