Before the split of 1054, the Roman Catholic Church or Western Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church or Byzantine Church were almost with each other. The two churches upheld the same ideals and got along well most of the time. They have had previous splits in the past, but it was never a permanent situation because they usually found a solution to their problems and differences. The split between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church in 1054 seemed to have no resolution when their theological, political, and cultural differences became too difficult to harmonize. Although the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church ultimately had more differences that ended up causing their split, they once had several similarities. The churches shared “many of the same prayers and liturgies” (“Eastern Orthodox,” 2001 par.1). Both the Eastern and Western Churches had differing opinions on the definition and numbering of the sacraments, but they agreed on what the seven principal sacraments should be for their Churches. They also agreed that the male clergy should consist of bishops, priests and deacons. up to the main altar, and placed on it a parchment declaring the patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, excommunicated” (Dennis, "The East-West schism.", MasterFILE Premier, 1990, par. 1). This act is known as the beginning of the split between the two churches. Although this act was thought to be the breaking of the stick, the split of the two churches had been in the works for quite some time. About a year earlier...... middle of document......ristianity.Encyclopædia Britannica Online, sv "Schism of 1054", accessed February 9, 2014, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/ topic/587056/Schism-of-1054.Dennis, George T. “The East-West Schism.” Christian History 9, n. 4 (November 1990): 20. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 3, 2014). Geanakoplos, Deno John. "On the Schism of the Greek and Roman Churches: Confidential Papal Directive for the Implementation of the Union (1278)." Greek Orthodox Theological Journal 1, n. 1 (January 1, 1954): 16-24. ATLA Religions Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed February 10, 2014). Scourtis, C. "Eastern Schism". In the New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., 22-27. vol. 5. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Accessed February 24, 2014. go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE%7CCX3407703504&v=2.1&u=vic_liberty&it=r&p=GVRL&sw =w&authCount=1.