Can you tell me more about eastern orthodox church?

Esp. when and how it split from the Catholic Church and is it literally referring to the Russian orthodox church? Cheers.

Russian, Greek, Serbian, Antiochian - traditionally all the churches East of the Bosporus River. The Byzantine Churches.

The split with Rome took place in 1054 A.D. for many reasons - mostly because of a difference of opinion (Now, THERE'S an understatement!!) about the wording of the Nicene Creed. The two Churches "excommunicated" each other - and the result was "The Great Schism". Still going on today.

In simple terms: The East believes that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father - the West (incl. Rome) says that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father AND THE SON.

Google: "FILIOQUE" for more.

the orthodox church split in a schism at approximately 1054a.d. the orthodox churches are catholic but do not have the pope as an authority and therefore are not bound by Vatican decisions etc.........Russian orthodox is included amongst a good number of other orthodox churches.

http://www.christendom-awake.org/pages/anichols/orthodox.html

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=101067
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/speeches/1965/documents/hf_p-vi_spe_19651207_common-declaration_en.html

hope this helps.god bless

I was Orthodox for many years.

The Orthodox church split from the Catholic Church in 1054 A.D. over some doctrinal issues, most notably a few words in the Creed about the Trinity.

There are many different divisions in the Orthodox church, most by ethnicity (Serbian, Russian, Coptic, Greek, Antiochian, etc) and along with the division is lack of unity under one spiritual head, as in the Catholic Church (under His Holiness, the Pope).

"Eastern Orthodox" is a broad term used to refer to the Orthodox Church since from the earliest times it was confined to the eastern parts of the Roman empire.

Since the time of the 1054 A.D. split there have arisen further differences between the East and West, including laxity among Orthodox regarding issues of contraception and divorce.

The Orthodox are still in "schism" today and will not submit to authority of the Vicar of Christ, but because of apostolic succession their Eucharist is still valid and Christ is truly present at the Eastern Liturgy.

1. It split in 1054, for many, many reasons.
2. No, it's referring to a large number of churches.

The Russian Orthodox Church was formed when Prince Vladimir and his followers were baptized in 989 AD thanks to the missionary efforts of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. In fact, St. Vladimir is considered equal to the Apostles for bringing the Kievan Rus to Orthodoxy.

There was tension between the Western and Eastern churches for centuries prior to the Great Schism in 1054 AD. Things came to a boil and representatives of the Pope excommunicated the Patriarch during the Divine Liturgy. The Patriarch also excommunicated the Pope and both anathemas remained valid until 1964 when they were lifted by Popes Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras. Lifting of the anathemas did not end the Schism. The Schism is likely to end only if a Vatican Council AND an Orthodox Ecumenical Council sign off on any agreements necessary to end schism and restore communion between the churches.

The Russian Patriarch was elevated in 1589 as a substitute to the one conquered by the Ottomans in 1453 because many viewed Moscow as the new Rome (which it never turned out to be due to Russia's xenophobia).