A great divide continues.

During his four pilgrimages to predominantly Eastern Orthodox countries--most recently to Ukraine--Pope John Paul II hoped to use the power of his personal witness to build bridges between the Catholic and Orthodox churches. But he met with both success and resistance, an outcome pointing to the centuries-long ambivalence between the two oldest Christian communions.

The formal schism between the Western and Eastern churches occurred in 1054, a break that had been developing since the 9th century. The main points of conflict were papal claims to universal supremacy in the church, the Western insistence in its creed that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son"--rather than from the Father only--and whether eucharistic bread should be unleavened or leavened (most Eastern churches use leavened bread).

In the 20th century, especially after the Second Vatican Council, the relationship between the Catholic and Orthodox churches warmed considerably, as seen in the 1964 Jerusalem meeting between Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI, which was followed by the formal lifting of the

mutual condemnations of 1054.

Further papal meetings led to the formation of an official theological dialogue commission between the two churches and a joint committee of American and Canadian Orthodox and Catholic bishops.

Speaking to a U.S. bishops' meeting late last year, Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland, O.S.B. observed that "historical events of centuries ago still have an impact today and reside deeply" in both churches' memories. He also outlined issues that still divide. For centuries Catholics and Orthodox have not shared the same history. The Orthodox also accept a closer relationship between church, nation, and culture, unlike the West's commitment to religious freedom and the separation of church and state. For the Orthodox, Weakland continued, liturgy means the fullest expression of their culture and spirituality. Also, there is no one official Orthodox voice; theological and ethnic differences often produce doctrinal conflicts.

Another point of conflict involves the status of Eastern Catholic churches--the so-called "Uniate" churches in Eastern countries that celebrate Eastern liturgy but are in communion with Rome. Extreme elements in those countries tend to suspect that ecumenism opens the door to Catholic proselytizing of the Orthodox or is a betrayal of the true faith rather than an effort to understand what both sides have in common at a level deeper than their divisions and theological formulas.