In 1054, what were the reasons listed for the excommunication of the Eastern Orthodox Church?
The bull of excommunication only excommunicated Michael Cerularius, the Patriarch of Constantinople. It was not intended to be a blanket excommunication of the entire Eastern Orthodox Church.
The “official” reasons listed on the bull of excommunication were:
1. Simony, the selling of Church offices, which was actually a major problem in the West at the time as well.
2. Rebaptizing Latins, which was a false charge.
3. Allowing priests to marry, which technically speaking, doesn’t happen in the Orthodox Church. Married men are ordained as priests, but once ordained priests cannot marry.
4. Removing the Filioque from the Nicene Creed… this charge is particularly incredible, as the papal legate Cardinal Humbert (who composed the bull) appears to have been unaware that the Filioque wasn’t in the original text of the Nicene Creed.
Unfortunately, when compiling this bull the Cardinal demonstrated a tragic ignorance of Eastern Christian customs, which resulted in a schism that has never been healed.