the Eastern Ortodoxia and the Roman Catholics?

Question

yesterday is the Ortodox Christmas. Why they separated

Answer 1

They separated during the Great Schism, generally dated to 1054. Though there were a lot of underlying causes, the biggest one was probably that the Orthodox churches didn't recognize the authority of the Pope.

Answer 2

The Council of Nicaea gave the Pope alone universal jurisdiction over the calendar in the year 325. At that time astronomy wasn't was what it is today. Someone really did need to create a calendar on a periodic basis and since the Pope is the lead bishop of the Church and successor to Peter it makes sense that it would be him.

The Churches separated for a variety of cultural reasons on both sides. The actual reason for the split was really just a surface reason. The Emporer tried controlling the Church but with the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West he couldn't pull it off so he tried manipulating the Church indirectly. He saw Rome as a danger to his power. Conversely, the Roman Empire of the East was still alive and thriving. At the time, it would have been the modern equivalent of the United States. Rome had long since collapsed and would probably be about the modern equivalent of Afganistan or Iraq. Imagine a worldwide Church based in Afganistan controlling the decisions occuring in the United States. The differences in education, knowledge, capabilities were enormous. Rome was in may ways inferior to the Eastern bishops because the contrasts in worlds were so great. The two worlds slipped too far apart for them to be able to remain one body.

So, back to the first paragraph. Pope Gregory reformed the Julian calendar to add leap days and so popes would no longer have to manually produce calendars. Since this occured after the schism the calendar reform has not happened yet in the East. Since both are working diligently on reunion, it will probably not be an issue in my lifetime.

Answer 3

Back in the early days of Christianity there were many sects and cults both Christian and Pagan. Not all of the Christian groups agreed on certain things. In an effort to make Christianity unified and cohesive and to make an official religion, an ecumenical council was called and precided by Emporor Constantine involving clerics from all over. Decisions were made. This was when the Catholic (meaning Universal) church was formed. Those from the Eastern branch didn't agree on certain things, alot of it being the specific dates for things such as the birth and crucifiction/resurrection of Christ, among other things. This was when the divide occured and the Eastern Orthodox Church became separate from the Catholic. This is a simplifcation but I hope it helps.

Answer 4

But the resaon they seperated is nothing to do with the different dates of Christmas. That arose due to the adoption, in the west but not in the east, of the Gregorian Calendar

Answer 5

THe great Schism remember...for more info see www.wikipedia.org