Warbler said:
RicOlie_2 said:
timdiggerm said:
How can Roman Catholic & Eastern Orthodox reconcilliation take place?
It could be very complicated, since both the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches believe they have the fullness of the truth, so a compromise in beliefs between them likely won't happen, or at least not for some time. Unification will have to be a very gradual process, and as the first steps towards reconciliation only began in the mid-20th century, so there is a long ways to go. The Catholic Church (unless I specify otherwise I will always be referring to the Roman Catholic Church when I use the term "Catholic") permits Catholics to receive Orthodox sacraments and go to Orthodox churches on Sunday if there isn't a Catholic church nearby, but the Orthodox Church has yet to respond in kind. Making peace with each other is the first step and that has gone quite far, but there may never be true unification.
If by "reconciliation" you mean unification, then it will probably take something pretty drastic to unify the two churches. Correct me on this if I'm wrong, but I'm taking you to mean making peace with each other and not necessarily unifying. Well, this has already began with Pope John XXIII I believe, the Pope who began the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s. There were several representatives from the Orthodox Church present at the council and I believe the Pope had met with at least one of their main Patriarchs before that. Later Popes, most notably John Paul II, also met with Orthodox Patriarchs and I believe it was he who declared the Orthodox Church's sacraments valid (I'm going off the top of my head right now, but I will make sure I have my facts straight when I have more time). The next step is for the Orthodox Church to reciprocate and then the two Churches can take further steps forward. The Churches are in a far greater state of reconciliation than they were a hundred years ago, so we have made progress and I believe the best way to reconciliation is mostly to continue as we are now with a bit more communication and cooperation between the Churches.
(I have heard that many members of the Orthodox Church are willing to join the Catholic Church and accept papal supremacy, but that is just hearsay and I'm not sure what "many" means.)
Hopefully that answers your question. If not, then I can find you some links and give a better explanation later.
what drove the Orthodox and Catholic Church apart in the first place?
A variety of things spread out over several hundred years caused the first Great Schism and the disagreements built up over time, culminating in complete separation. One such disagreement was over papal supremacy. The Orthodox Church has multiple Patriarchs as leaders rather than having a single Pope like the Catholic Church. Political and theological disagreements (there is a clause in the Nicene Creed that created a bit of a rift for example) also contributed. The Patriarch of Constantinople was excommunicated by a cardinal representing the Pope and he excommunicated the Pope in turn, which really helped to push the Church towards the Schism. In 1054 they split and have remained separated ever since.
Here are some links for further reading in case you are interested.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East%E2%80%93West_Schism#Centers_of_Christianity
Christianity Today Article: http://www.ctlibrary.com/ch/1990/issue28/2820.html
(This one has a short bit about reconciliation between the Churches if you are interested, timdiggerm): http://www.theopedia.com/Great_Schism