Schism in Christianity
A religious schism occurs when a single religious body divides and becomes two separate religious bodies. The split can be violent or nonviolent but results in at least one of the two newly-created bodies considering itself distinct from the other. This article covers schisms in Christianity. In the early Christian church, the formation of a distinction between the concepts of "heresy" and "schism" began. In ecclesiastical usage, the term "heresy" refers to a serious confrontation based on disagreements over fundamental issues of faith or morality, while the term "schism" usually means a lesser form of disunity  caused by organizational or less important ideological differences. Heresy is rejection of a doctrine that a Church considered to be essential. Schism is a rejection of communion with the authorities of a Church, and not every break of communion is necessarily about doctrine, as is clear from examples such as the Western Schism and the breaking of the communion that existed between Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople and Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens in 2004. However, when for any reason people withdraw from communion, two distinct ecclesiastical entities may result, each of which, or at least some members thereof, may then  accuse the other(s) of heresy. Definition of schism in Christianity. In Christian theology, the concept of the unity of the Church was developed by the Apostles, Holy Fathers and apologists. The greatest contribution to the doctrine of church unity was made by the apostles Peter and Paul, Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus of Lyons, Cyprian of Carthage, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, John of Damascus. Christian ecclesiology insists on the statement that unity and the Church are synonymous, as John Chrysostom wrote: “the name of the Church is not one of separation but of unity and harmony”. According  to one of the greatest theologians and Fathers of the Church, Basil the Great, the schism is a break in unity due to disagreement in understanding certain aspects of the established church tradition, reflected in canonical practice. Ignatius of Antioch especially warned Christians against sins that could contribute to the schisms. Schism in the early Church. Since the early days of Christianity, many disputes have arisen between members of the Church. Schismatic communities that separated from the Catholic Church appeared in the ante-Nicene period. The assessment of schism in the early Church was not uniform. At the same time , theologians of the West paid much more attention to the topic of church divisions than in the East.