View source for Second Western Schism

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{{Infobox event
|image= Group_of_Vatican_and_Italian_government_notables_posing_at_the_Lateran_Palace_before_the_signing_of_the_treaty.jpg
|caption= The Italian Landonists meeting with members of the Vatican, a focal point of the schism
|type={{W|Schism#Christianity|Christian Schism}}
|cause= [[Ecclesiastical differences between the Avignon Church and the Roman Church|Ecclesiastical differences]]<br />[[Theological differences between the Avignon Church and the Roman Church|Theological and Liturgical disputes]] 
|date=1934
|participants=[[Pope Pius XI]] <br /> [[Antipope Benedict XVI]]
|also_known_as=Schism of 1934
|outcome=Permanent split of the Roman Catholic Church into the modern-day [[Catholic Church – Avignon]] and [[Catholic Church – Rome]]}}The '''Second Western Schism''', also called the '''Schism of 1934''', ({{W|Latin language|Latin}}: ''Secundum schisma occidentale'') was a split within the [[Catholic Church]], which resulted in the division of the church between the one based in [[Catholic Church – Rome|Rome]] and the other based in [[Catholic Church – Avignon|Avignon]]. Initially caused by political reasons, the rift between the two churches further widened over ecclesiastical, theological, and liturgical differences after the Roman Church adopted the [[Second Vatican Council]] in 1949. 

During the Italian {{W|Risorgimento}}, the Italian government and the papacy clashed over the {{W|Roman Question}}, which dealt with the papacy's role and status within [[Italy]]. The {{W|Papal States}} had effectively been reduced to the hills of the Vatican as Italian nationalists took control of much of the Italian peninsula. The papacy during this time was described as a "{{W|prisoner in the Vatican}}". Following the ascension of the [[Italian Socialist Party|Landonists]] under [[Benito Mussolini]], the issue was resolved through the signing of the [[Lateran treaties|Lateran Pact]] between Chairman Mussolini and [[Pope Pius XI]]. The Pact guaranteed papal authority and sovereignty of the [[Holy See]] over the [[Vatican City]], a small city-state within the Italian capital of Rome. By [[Great War I]] however, Mussolini had neutralized the pope's influence by threatening to revoke the pact and seize control of the Vatican. Mussolini's regime persecuted the Church in Italy and absorbed various Catholic-affiliated groups. Pius XI eventually submitted to Mussolini's demands by supporting Landonism in 1934, a controversial decision which alarmed conservative clergymen and laymen alike. 

After Pius XI issued a {{W|papal bull}} compelling Italian Catholics to support Landonism, a third of the {{W|College of Cardinals}}, led by the Archbishop of Avignon, declared the pope's actions as illegitimate and fled to Avignon in France to avoid prosecution by the Italian state and to counter the Landonization of the Church. The conservatives in Avignon declared themselves as the legitimate continuation of the Catholic Church and convened in the [[Council of Avignon]] to declare Pius XI and his successors in Rome to be illegitimate and heretical. The re-establishment of a papacy in Avignon, which had last occurred during the {{W|Avignon Papacy|14th century}}, was backed by the French arch-conservative government of [[Jean III of France|Jean III]], who recognized the Archbishop of Avignon as the pope, and the Church in Avignon as legitimate.

In 1949, the Catholic Church in Rome held the [[Second Vatican Council]], which addressed the Church's relationship with the modern world. It notably departed from the early 20th-century philosophical schools of {{W|Neo-Scholasticism}} and {{W|biblical literalism}}, towards {{W|Catholic modernism|modernism}}. Other major changes included a shift from conducting {{W|Mass (Catholic Church)|Mass}} in Latin to {{W|vernacular}} languages, the discontinuation of ornate clerical regalia, revisions to {{W|Anaphora (liturgy)|Eucharistic prayers}}, the promotion of ''{{W|versus populum}}'' over ''{{W|ad orientem}}'', the promotion of {{W|ecumenism}} with non-Catholic groups, and the official synthesis of {{W|Catholic social teaching}} and Landonism. The Church in Avignon rejected the outcome of the Second Vatican Council, and reaffirmed its commitment to the traditional teachings of the Church.

Since the schism, there have been numerous, unsuccessful attempts towards reconciliation between the two groups, which have been hampered due to intense politicization and ongoing contention over the doctrines and nature of the Second Vatican Council.

==Background==

Since the end of the {{W|Middle Ages}}, the authority of the Catholic Church within Western Europe had become challenged as evidenced through the {{W|Reformation|Protestant Reformation}}, the {{W|Enlightenment}}, and the post-{{W|French Revolution}} {{W|secular state|state secularism}} that dominated Europe. The church reacted by centralizing authority to Rome ({{W|ultramontanism}}) and regularly issued condemnations towards new ideas which emerged in a modernizing world. The {{W|First Vatican Council}} represented the peak of ultramontanism as the ecumenical council clarified and defended Rome's position on {{W|papal infallibility}} and {{W|papal primacy}}. Catholic theology remained based on two guiding philosophies: {{W|neo-scholasticism}} and the {{W|encyclical}}s issued by recent popes at the time. By 1907, the development of alternative methods of church historiography and analysis of the Bible such as the {{W|historical-critical method}} prompted {{W|Pope Pius X}} to condemn the new ideological movement of  "{{W|modernism (Roman Catholicism)|modernism}}" as heresy in his encyclical ''{{W|Pascendi dominici gregis}}''.

==History==

==Differences==

Although the split between the Roman Catholic Church initially stemmed from political and ecclesiological differences, the opposing churches further diverged from each other over theologically and liturgically. Religious historian Giuseppe Caligostro described the Second Western Schism as a two-stage division: "the fissures of Schism began when Rome embraced Landonism and the irreversible separation of Schism became actualized when Rome adopted the Second Vatican Council". Both sides accused of each other of heresy and blasphemy, and viewed the other as illegitimate.

===Ecclesiological disputes===

Both Avignon and Rome recognize the {{W|Papal primacy|primacy of the Bishop of Rome}} and that the Pope is {{W|papal supremacy|supreme}} within the Christian church by virtue of his role as the {{W|Vicar of Christ}}. The churches differ on whom should be recognized as the valid, legitimate pope. Rome asserts that it is the unbroken line of {{W|apostolic succession}} as the Pope in Rome remains in Rome as its bishop whereas Avignon claims that is the continuation of the legitimate apostolic succession as the Pope in Avignon remains the bishop of Rome, despite being physically based out of it.

Avignon, when it split from Rome, was accused of being {{W|conclavism|conclavist}} for electing what Rome considers to be an antipope. Avignon disputes this claim and asserts that the Roman popes were conclavist when they elected [[Pope Paul VI]] who accepted the Second Vatican Council, which they regard as a heretical abandonment of the true faith. Furthermore, Avignon contends that during the Second Vatican Council, Rome used language and thinking that failed to recognize the Catholic Church as the one true church established by Jesus Christ in favor of the idea that the Catholic Church was a subset of the {{W|invisible church|Church}}. It also expresses concern that post-council Rome has engaged in {{W|ecumenism}} with other Christian churches and denominations and incorporated the secular ideology of [[Landonism]] into church teachings.

Since the split, both churches' ecclesiological structures and organizations have gradually diverged. While the majority of archdioceses and dioceses recognized by both churches are essentially the same and overlap, both have established new dioceses that are not recognized by the other. In countries where one particular church is more dominant than the other, it is common that certain dioceses within that country are effectively under the jurisdiction of the dominant church and therefore, only associated with it. For example, the Diocese of Rome is primarily associated with the Roman Church, although Avignon maintains its own Diocese of Rome, distinguished as "Diocese of Rome (Avignon)", consisting of both actual and symbolic churches under the jurisdiction of Avignon.

===Theological and liturgical issues===

During and following the Schism, there were concerns within the Church by traditionalists that the Church was eroding the importance of certain doctrines, liturgies, and teachings in favor of modernizing. Rome adopted a {{W|Mass of Paul VI|revised Mass}} of the Roman rite, which allowed Mass to be held in the common tongue of parishioners and the priest celebrating Mass ''{{W|versus populum}}'' whereas traditionalists, who would become part of Avignon, maintained the {{W|Tridentine Mass}}, which holds Mass in {{W|Latin}} and has the priest celebrating Mass ''{{W|ad orientem}}''. The Church during the 1920s and 1930s, under the pressures of Landonist Italy, became more open to ''{{W|nouvelle théologie}}'' and other modern movements, as opposed to the then-prevailing ideology of {{W|neo-Scholasticism}} and reliance on recent papal encyclicals. 

There were also concerns that the Church was shifting towards a more {{W|Liberal Christianity|liberal}} form of Christianity, influenced by {{W|Protestantism}} and other non-Catholic sources, especially Landonism. Rome is more open to scriptural reading and {{W|higher criticism}} of the Bible as opposed to Avignon which prefers the reading of devotional writings, church booklets, and literature on the lives of Christian saints. 

During the 1980s, Rome removed the requirement of {{W|clerical celibacy}} and lifted its ban against {{W|clerical marriage}}s, followed by the {{W|ordination of women}} in the 2000s. These decisions have further complicated relations and reconciliatory efforts between Avignon and Rome.

==''Sui iuris'' churches==

The Second Western Schism caused controversy and complications for the {{W|Eastern Catholic}} churches which were in communion with Rome. The Eastern Catholic churches were recognized as {{W|Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites|particular churches}} ''{{W|sui iuris}}'' prior to the Schism. 

===Communion with Avignon===

*[[Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church]]
*[[Greek Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia|Serbo-Croatian Greek Catholic Church]]
*[[Eritrean Catholic Church]]
*[[Ethiopian Catholic Church]]
*[[Greek Byzantine Catholic Church]]
*[[Hungarian Greek Catholic Church]]
*[[Macedonian Greek Catholic Church]]
*[[Maronite Church]]
*[[Romanian Greek Catholic Church]]
*[[Russian Greek Catholic Church]]
*[[Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church]]
*[[Slovak Greek Catholic Church]]
*[[Somalian Catholic Church]]
*[[Ukrainian Catholic Church]]
*[[Yemeni Catholic Church]]

===Communion with Rome===

*[[Albanian Greek Catholic Church]]
*[[Armenian Catholic Church]]
*[[Belarusian Greek Catholic Church]]
*[[Chaldean Catholic Church]]
*[[Coptic Catholic Church]]
*[[Catholic Church in Georgia|Georgian Catholic Church]]
*[[Italo-Albanian Catholic Church]]
*[[Melkite Greek Catholic Church]]
*[[Syriac Catholic Church]]
*[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Church]]
*[[Syro-Malakanra Catholic Church]]

==Reconciliation efforts==
{{Main|Catholic reconciliation}}

Both Avignon and Rome have issued official statements that have expressed the desire for reconciliation. Reconciliation has been a common theme within Rome itself, as part of its more ecumenical and pluralistic persuasion, whereas Avignon has tended to deemphasize the urgency or importance of reconciliation. Reconciliation efforts have been made complicated by the ongoing divergence and drift in theology, liturgy, and ecclesiology of the churches. Throughout the late 20th-century, there were a series of high-profile meetings and conferences between representatives of Rome and Avignon to discuss the possibilities of reconciliation and the desire to maintain inter-church dialogue.

During the turn of the century, Rome adopted church reforms which included the removal of priestly celibacy and the ordination of women. Avignon [[Pope Ignatius]] described the decisions as the "deathknell for any hope for reconciliation".

==See also==

*{{W|East–West schism}}
*{{W|Western Schism|First Western Schism}}
*{{W|Reformation}}
{{Catholic Church footer}}
[[Category:Schisms in Christianity]]
[[Category:20th-century Catholicism]]
[[Category:20th-century Christianity]]
[[Category:Christian terminology]]
[[Category:History of the papacy]]
[[Category:1930s in Christianity]]
[[Category:1930s in Europe]]
[[Category:Avignon Papacy]]
[[Category:20th-century Catholicism]]
[[Category:History of Landonism]]
[[Category:History of the Catholic Church]]