Dissimilar from the Western Empire, the Byzantine Empire united it’s church and government. Byzantine Empire appreciated the power and harmony of their culture. The Byzantine Empire became more triumphant than the Roman Empire, because they did very well in trade, defense, and social order. During 590 –1517, the Roman Catholic Church had complete control over the Western World. The Roman Catholic Church had control over religion, philosophy, art, politics, and education. For many years there was a singular Christian church. In A.D. 1054 the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated, generating what is called the Great Schism. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Catholics were once a single Christian church with two major areas Rome and Constantinople. In 1054 when Pope Leo IX of Rome affirmed himself the vital head of Christianity; Leo maintained the lead of the Eastern Church in Constantinople and asked as if the people of Rome identify him as authority. When people refused to obey by the commands of Pope Leo IX of Rome he put an end to the union with the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Leo IX of Rome threatened to excommunicate or exile from the faith. Leo was condemned by the pope and the people of the entire …show more content…
Today, the practice of these sacraments in both churches is almost impossible to differentiate in form and content. Both Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox churches use a hierarchical form of church government, levels of priesthood, including priests, monks, nuns and various levels of bishops. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Bishop of Rome is called the Pope, and he sits atop of the Catholic Church’s organizational hierarchy. Inside the Catholic Church, he is considered Christ’s representative as the head of the Catholic Church on earth. The Roman Catholic Church has extended around the world, controling much of Western religion. In 2012, there were an estimated 1.18 billion Catholics worldwide. The U.S. is home to approximately 60 million Catholics, and the Catholic Church plays an active role in world affairs, including international relations via its own city state, the Vatican. There are approximately 200 million Eastern Orthodox followers throughout the world. The largest concentration of Eastern Orthodox Christians is in the Russian Orthodox Church, which is estimated to have around 100 million adherents. Orthodoxy has had great difficulty gaining influence in the West, and the number of Eastern Orthodox in the U.S. sits somewhere between 1.5 million and 3 million fewer than many Protestant