9th–15th centuries

East and West: azymes, epiclesis and liturgical differences

According to Pelikan, differences in rite and church order gradually turned into doctrinal ones. In the West confirmation was administered only by the bishop, in the East by the parish priest; the Western celibacy of the clergy was regarded by the East as an "absurd tradition." In the 11th century the East called the azymes the "original cause of the division": the Greeks saw unleavened bread as a Jewish rite, while the Latins replied that "bread" in Scripture means both leavened and unleavened. There were also disputes over water in the wine and over fasting. Later a divergence over the moment of consecration came to light: the East linked it with the invocation of the Holy Spirit (epiclesis), the West with the words of institution; the Council of Florence in 1439 adopted the Western position, but most Eastern theologians retained the epiclesis.