Great Schism: Eastern and Western Christianity Split Forever
The papal bull wasn't even valid—Pope Leo IX had died three months earlier. But Cardinal Humbert didn't know that when he marched into Hagia Sophia on July 16, 1054, interrupting Saturday liturgy to slam his excommunication decree onto the altar. Patriarch Michael Cerularius was dining nearby. He rushed back, read the Latin insults accusing Greeks of heresy, and issued his own excommunication five days later. The split was supposed to be temporary. Nine centuries later, a billion Christians still worship in separate churches because three men couldn't wait to confirm their boss was alive.
July 16, 1054
972 years ago
Key Figures & Places
papal bull
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excommunication
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Hagia Sophia
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East-West Schism
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Saturday
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Eastern Christianity
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Western Christianity
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legates
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East–West Schism
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Haiti
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Western Christianity
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split in 1054
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Eastern Orthodox Church
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Catholic Church
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Eastern Christianity
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Papal bull
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Constantinople
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Rome
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Pilgrimage
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Excommunication
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Hagia Sophia
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Pope Leo XIII
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Papal legate
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Encyclical
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Virgen del Carmen
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Vudú
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Humberto de Silva Candida
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Miguel I Cerulario
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Missionierende Religion
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Quarto abeunte saeculo
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Sodo
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Legado
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