The ability to trace ones church back to the ?first church? through apostolic succession is an argument used by a number of different churches to assert that their church is the ?one true church.? The Roman Catholic Church makes this claim. The Greek Orthodox Church makes this claim.
It really depends who you choose to believe. Not one person knows for sure!!
The first two patriarchal sees established were Jerusalem Antioch and Alexandira Rome and Finlay Constantinople. Al of the patriarchates before Constantinople were founded in The Apostolic era in some cases by the same apostle.
so Rome can not claim to be first as they were not established first.
They had primacy of hon nor due to the cities size- meaning Rome had the Honor of calling together every bishop for an ecumenical council when serving Liturgy with an other bishop the Pope's name would be read first
he would give the sermon consecrate the Eucharist and walk in the the church first.
in order the rest would be Constantinople- Alexandria Antioch then Jerusalem. Each of these cities headed a regional synod called a patriarchate.
then came the schism. The Orthodox church refused to change the creed abandon the practice of ordaining married men to the clergy refused to accept the practice of kneeling on Sunday which was introduced by Rome and refused to change their stance on Rome's equality with the other Bishops-and accept Rome's new escigiology. the schism has grown as Rome introduced doctrines like purgagtory and indugences. So the practices of the Orthdoox church are older than Rome.
Changing practices changes the faith and is abandoning the faith, and a fall into herasy.
ther bull of 1054 was demanding the Eastern Church change which it refused to do.
When the disputes and opposition between the spiritual chiefs of the Orthodoxy and Catholicism became more and more intense, in 1054, the Patriarch and the Pope excommunicated one another.
The Orthodox Church (Eastern, Greek/Russian) and the Roman Catholic Church took their own way: this separation is called the schism.
Which came first: the Eastern Orthodox Church or the Roman Catholic Church?
