In 1054, the final year of Pope Leo IX's reign, the Western (Latin) and
Eastern (Orthodox) churches had a doctrinal clash and split. The Pope in
Rome and the Patriarch in Constantinople mutually excommunicated each other.
The break or schism still stands.
So what was the Holy Spirit doing? Wasn't He guiding these Christian
leaders? Strangely, a major point of the dispute (hold your breath) is
WHETHER THE HOLY SPIRIT PROCEEDS FROM THE FATHER OR VIA HIS SON !! Such
were the doctrinal games being played by the two European sets of clerics.
They could have gone further asked whether there was a Father at all and the
status of his Son.
Pope Gregory VII
In 1073, Hildebrand of Tuscany, chaplain to Pope Gregory VI, became Pope
Gregory VII. He promptly drew up a list of 27 Declarations about papal
powers. Among them:
- No one on earth can judge the pope
- The Roman Church has never erred and never will until the end of time
- The people can depose bishops, kings and emperors... All princes must
kiss his feet
- A rightly elected pope is a saint.
Gregory VII proceeded to exercise these powers: he deposed the Greek Emperor
and the Polish King. He forbade German Emperor Henry IV from ruling Italy
and Germany. Henry, aged 21, was forced to make peace with the Pope. He
crossed the Alps in freezing weather (with his wife & baby son) and was made
to wait out in the cold for three days & nights, confessing his
unworthiness, his teeth chattering, skin turning blue, knee deep in snow.
After begging for mercy and doing penance, he was allowed to go home.
On his return, Henry promptly appointed another pope, Clement III in 1085
and marched into Rome. Pope Gregory fled to Naples. It was he who upgraded
the pope's title from Vicar of St Peter's to Vicar of Christ. He was made a
saint in 1606.
Clement III (1080-1100) stayed in Rome but was considered an anti-Pope. Real
Pope Victor III (1086-87) was not allowed into Rome and Urban II (1088-99)
was also barred until 1094. It was Urban who called upon Christian Europe to
wage a holy war and recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims, promising
forgiveness of sins to those who joined. Many who joined were slaughtered on
the way. first by the Hungarians, next by the Turks.
REFERENCE: Peter de Rosa, 'Vicars of Christ' (Corgi 1994)
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Eddie
