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TheAcacian schism, between theEastern andWestern Christian Churches, lasted 35 years, from 484 to 519.[1][2][3][4] It resulted from a drift in the leaders of Eastern Christianity towardMiaphysitism and EmperorZeno's unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the parties with theHenotikon.[5][6][7] The events are described in letters in theCollectio Avellana.
In the events leading up to the schism,Pope Felix III wrote two letters, one to Emperor Zeno and one to PatriarchAcacius of Constantinople, reminding them of the need to defend the faith without compromise, as they had done previously. When former patriarchJohn Talaia, exiled fromAlexandria, arrived in Rome and reported on what was happening in the East, Felix wrote two more letters, summoning Acacius to Rome to explain his conduct. The legates who brought these letters to Constantinople were imprisoned as soon as they landed and forced to receivecommunion from Acacius as part of a liturgy in which they heardPeter Mongus and other Miaphysites named in thediptychs. Felix, having heard of this from theAcoemetae monks in Constantinople, held asynod in 484 in which he denounced his legates and deposed andexcommunicated Acacius.
Acacius replied to this act by striking Felix's name from his diptychs. Only theAcoemeti in Constantinople stayed loyal to Rome, and Acacius put their abbot, Cyril, in prison. Acacius died in 489, and his successorFlavitas tried to reconcile himself with Rome but refused to give up communion with Miaphysites and to omit Acacius' name in his diptychs. Felix's successorGelasius also refused any compromise as a betrayal of theCouncil of Chalcedon.[8]
Zeno died in 491; his successorAnastasius I Dicorus began by keeping the policy of theHenotikon, though he was a Miaphysite. After Anastasius' death, his successorJustin I immediately sought to end the schism with Rome, a goal shared by the new Patriarch of Constantinople,John of Cappadocia. A papal legation underGermanus of Capua was sent to Constantinople. The reunion was formalized onEaster, March 24, 519.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Schism".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
