Compare
Catholic ChurchandRussian Orthodox Church
At a glance
- Common groundIn full: Common ground
- Common inheritanceA shared first millennium: the 'full communion of faith, fraternal accord and sacramental life' that both churches recall from before their estrangement, including the ecumenical councils, the Nicene Creed and bishops in apostolic succession.
2 sources
- Joint Catholic–Orthodox Declaration of His Holiness Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I, ¶5Source verified
- The Filioque: A Church-Dividing Issue? An Agreed StatementSource verified
Provisional: broadly supported, but awaiting fuller checking.
- GodOne God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
- ChristChrist is fully divine and fully human; Two natures united in one person, as defined at Chalcedon (451)
- Church and ministryBishops in historic apostolic succession
- AgreementTheir wider families are parties to North American Filioque statement (2003)
- Common inheritanceA shared first millennium: the 'full communion of faith, fraternal accord and sacramental life' that both churches recall from before their estrangement, including the ecumenical councils, the Nicene Creed and bishops in apostolic succession.
- Key differencesIn full: Key differences
- Scripture and authorityCatholic ChurchScripture and Tradition, interpreted by the bishops in communion with the popeRussian Orthodox ChurchScripture read within Holy Tradition, the councils and the Fathers
- Church and ministryCatholic ChurchBishops in communion with the pope, who holds universal jurisdictionRussian Orthodox ChurchBishops governing in synods; self-governing churches without a universal head
- Creeds and councilsBothThe first three ecumenical councils (325, 381, 431); The fourth to seventh councils (451 to 787)Catholic Church alsoThe Creed says the Spirit proceeds from the Father 'and the Son' (Filioque); Later general councils of the Western Church, including Trent and the Vatican councilsRussian Orthodox Church alsoThe Creed is used without the Filioque
Below: 1 difference of emphasis.
- How their histories connectIn full: How their histories connect
- Lines parted · 1054 (conventional) · A gradual process · Through the wider familyThe estrangement of East and West (schism)Read the account in Eastern Orthodox Church
- Line of descentRussian Orthodox Church became self-governing from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (1448).
- Connected today?In full: their relationship today
Separate, in formal dialogueas of October 2026
Not in full communion. Theological dialogue continues; the 1054 sentences were lifted in 1965.
Composed from each tradition’s sourced records. Where a topic is not yet recorded for one side, the Atlas says so rather than guess.
Structured comparison. Composed from each tradition’s sourced position records. No research has yet been written for this particular pair, so the Atlas shows only what those records establish.
Where they differ
Creeds and councils
The Filioque
- Catholic Church
- The Creed says the Spirit proceeds from the Father 'and the Son' (Filioque)
- Russian Orthodox Church
- The Creed is used without the Filioque
Councils received
- Catholic Church
- The first three ecumenical councils (325, 381, 431); The fourth to seventh councils (451 to 787); Later general councils of the Western Church, including Trent and the Vatican councils
- Russian Orthodox Church
- The first three ecumenical councils (325, 381, 431); The fourth to seventh councils (451 to 787)
Scripture and authority
Sources of authority
- Catholic Church
- Scripture and Tradition, interpreted by the bishops in communion with the pope
- Russian Orthodox Church
- Scripture read within Holy Tradition, the councils and the Fathers
Church and ministry
Church government
- Catholic Church
- Bishops in communion with the pope, who holds universal jurisdiction
- Russian Orthodox Church
- Bishops governing in synods; self-governing churches without a universal head
Different emphases, not necessarily opposed (1)
Salvation and grace
Characteristic emphasis
- Catholic Church
- Justification by grace, which renews the believer and works through love
- Russian Orthodox Church
- Salvation as theosis: union with God by grace
Not yet comparable (1)
No sourced position is recorded for one side, so the Atlas does not say whether they agree:
- Sacraments and ordinances (how christ's presence is explained): not recorded for Russian Orthodox Church
How their histories relate
Schism · 1054 (conventional)A gradual processWider family
The estrangement of East and West
A breach of communion between churches. The Atlas never treats a schism as the founding of either side, and many developed gradually.
Latin and Greek Christianity drifted apart over centuries. 1054 is the conventional date, but the excommunications of that year did not by themselves make a formal schism; the division deepened through later events.Read in Eastern Orthodox Church history2 sources
- The Filioque: A Church-Dividing Issue? An Agreed Statement, IISource verified
- East and West: The Making of a Rift in the Church, from Apostolic Times until the Council of FlorenceIdentified, not independently read
Their relationship today
Separate, in formal dialogueas of October 2026
This record concerns the wider family to which one or both belong.
Based on The estrangement of East and West
Developments towards reconciliation
2003Wider family
The Filioque: A Church-Dividing Issue?
North American Orthodox–Catholic Theological Consultation
Recommended that each side stop calling the other's teaching on the procession of the Spirit heretical, and that Catholics use the original Greek text of the Creed of 381, without the Filioque, in catechesis and liturgy.Source
- The Filioque: A Church-Dividing Issue? An Agreed Statement, IVSource verified
Still open: The manner of the Spirit's origin is identified as a question still to be resolved, distinct from questions of primacy and authority.
Recommendations of a regional theological consultation, not a decision of either church.Source
- The Filioque: A Church-Dividing Issue? An Agreed StatementSource verified
Explore further
Catholic Church
All citations link to the Atlas’s single source register.