Although most Christians believe there is only one major type of Catholics, there are actually many types of groups of Catholics. From before 330 AD many different Catholic groups stood out because of their differences. These differences later became the reason for a great split and the Eastern Rite Church was formed. Although the Eastern Rite Church and the Roman Catholic church are very a like they also have many differences. The two churches began to split apart in 313 when Constantine granted freedom to practice Christianity freely. In 330 the church reached a great conflict when Constantine moved the capital from Rome to Constantanople. This later became the Eastern Christendom. Later in 1054 the church reached its breaking point and that is when the great schims occurred. There were two main reasons for the church to split apart. One large part is when the church leaders were arguing about a phase which was added to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed known as the filiogue. The second reason and probably the larger reason was the Roman Papal said he was the leader and the authority over the entire church. The conflict came about between Photius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, and Pope Nicholas I. These same conflicts continued until 1054 when Pope Leo the IV excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinoble. Later the Patriarchs called together a council to excommunicate the papal delegates and the new Eastern Rite of the church was born. The Eastern Rite church is made up of eastern Christians that are in unison with the catholic church. There are many things that separate the Eastern Rite Church from the Roman Catholic Church. The Eastern Rite Church uses a very Greek oriented tradition with their own liturgy and hymns. The Eastern Rite Church also uses more elaborate icons than the Roman Catholic Church. Eastern Rite Churches are extremely elaborately decorated to remind people that they are in the presence of God. They also use a lot of chandeliers, candle, and the Byzantine cross. The Church divides itself into families, there are about five major types; the Alexandrine Byzantine, Antiochene, Chaldean, and Armenian. Each of these five major types is headed by many patriarchs who preside over the bishops clergy merabers and the people of the faith. The Eastern Rite Church still recognizes the Pope as their leader. After observing one of these masses you can truly see the differences in culture. We observed a Ukrainian Church mass and which had many differences from the Roman Catholic Church. When we entered the church we saw many candles and there were two chandeliers. At the very front of the church was the tabernacle and some very elaborate icon screens which were opened before the mass started. The priests said the whole mass in Russian with his back turned to us. The mass was very hard to understand and follow because it was sung in the same melody which makes the mass a lot longer than the Roman Catholic Church mass. Communion is given in the form of bread cubes and wine which is dropped into your mouth by using a small golden spoon. After the mass we observed a Holy Water blessing ceremony. The ceremony began with readings from the scripture and then the water was blessed. Lit candles were then taken and placed into the water which caused the flames to be extinguished. After all of this is over, they allowed us to drink the water and eat bread. From there the mass is finally over. After observing a Ukrainian mass I would highly recommend observing one of these masses to all Catholics. The Eastern Orthodox Church also known as the Eastern Church is much like the Roman Catholic Church. The main difference is that they don't see the Pope as their church leader, they only see him as a very Holy man. The Eastern Orthodox Church says that they use the same traditions as the apostles and the early Christians. Their sacraments are mostly the same except for the fact that married men may become priests but not bishops or monks. The communion is distributed in the form of bread and wine which they believe is the body and blood of Jesus Christ. All of their liturgy is sung or chanted. They also see Greeks as the center of spiritual vitality. The Coptic Church is the greatest Christian organization in Egypt. The faith separated from the Roman Church in the fifth century because of their beliefs that Jesus Christ only had one nature or the belief in monophysitism. The word Coptic which in Greece mean Egyptian represents its very early traditions and views. The Coptic Church is headed by Patriarchs which are elected by the entire community. Probably the greatest difference between the Roman Church and the Coptic Church is that is does not except the pope as the leader. Although we have separated many times in our small beliefs and our differences we have a great deal in common. Our common belief is that we all believe in God as our powerful and just ruler. Most of the conflicts which caused us to separate were trivial and probably could have been avoided, but out of these conflicts came many diverse and complex religions.
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