Question

Before the split in 1054, how did the Eastern Church and the Western Church view the Pope differently?

The Eastern Church recognized the Pope’s complete power.
The Western Church saw the Pope only as a governmental leader.
The Eastern Church completely rejected the Pope’s power.
The Western Church saw the Pope only as a religious leader.

Answer 1

Before the Great Schism of 1054, the Eastern Church (Eastern Orthodox) and the Western Church (Roman Catholic) had differing views on the authority of the Pope. The key differences can be summarized as follows:

- **The Western Church** recognized the Pope as the spiritual leader with primacy over other bishops, viewing him as the successor to Saint Peter and holding significant authority in theological and ecclesiastical matters. They accepted the Pope's role as the Bishop of Rome and leader of the universal Church, both spiritually and doctrinally.

- **The Eastern Church** respected the position of the Pope but did not accept the notion of papal supremacy as it developed in the West. Instead, they viewed the Patriarch of Constantinople as a leading bishop with authority over the Eastern Churches, emphasizing a conciliar approach to governance rather than centralized authority in the papacy.

Based on this understanding, the most accurate statement among your options would be that the **Eastern Church completely rejected the Pope’s power** in the sense of papal supremacy, while the **Western Church** recognized the Pope's significant authority, viewing him primarily as both a religious and governmental leader.

Thus, the correct answer would relate to the rejection of papal authority's complete power by the Eastern Church, acknowledging that they did not accept it as it was viewed in the West. The other statements provided do not accurately capture the nuanced dynamics of the relationship between the two churches prior to the Schism.