First of all, you have to define things. There are two kinds of eastern churches; or you could just as well say there are two kinds of Catholic churches. The Eastern churches are:
Similarities--they are both Christian.
Differences--the Orthodox do not recognize the authority of the Pope. The Orthodox celebrate their Christmas on a different day.
Catholic AnswerIt's just Catholic, not Roman Catholic. Roman is an epithet first commonly used in England after the protestant revolt to describe the Catholic Church. It is never used by the official Catholic Church.The similarities between the two faiths is deep and strong. When the Orthodox split from the Catholic Church, each of those Eastern Rites broke into two: thus, to this day, there is a Greek Orthodox Church and a Greek Uniate Catholic Church. Uniate means that it is just another rite within the Catholic Church. Many in the west, especially those who use the words "Roman Catholic" tend to think of the Catholic Church as monolithic, but it is not so, there are many separate rites in the Church, all of them equally ancient, and equally valid. Each of those rites which broke into Orthodox and Uniate Rites are equally Christian, enjoying the fullness of Christ's priesthood in their bishops, thus having a valid priesthood, and valid sacraments. The main difference is that the Orthodox are no longer in communion with the Pope in Rome, and thus a lot of their doctrinal development is stunted by about a 1000 years at this point.
ANSWER:
Actually, there is the Eastern ORTHODOX Church and the Eastern Rite Catholic Church.
The Eastern Orthodox Church is separated from (in "schism" with) The Catholic Church.
The Eastern Catholic Church is a "Rite"/sect in full communion with the Catholic Church and the pope. The Roman Catholic Church is the Latin Rite. Both are part of The Catholic Church.
The Eastern Orthodox Church is not, technically, part/in communion with the Catholic Church. They do not even refer to themselves as "Catholic" but rather "Orthodox."
The eastern church was based in Constantinople, and spoke Greek.
The western church was based in Rome, and spoke Latin.
An easy way to remember the difference between east and west is figure out where Greece is. Constantinople is east of Greece, and Rome is west of Greece.
Additionally, the word east is in ConSTAntinoplE, and the word west is not in either.
Catholic Answer It's just Catholic, not Roman Catholic. Roman is an epithet first commonly used in England after the protestant revolt to describe the Catholic Church. It is never used by the official Catholic Church.
The Eastern Catholic Church is identical to the Catholic Church, they only differ in Rite. The Catholic Church includes all Rites. The person asking the question is using "Roman Catholic Church" which probably means that they are referring to the Latin Rite of the Church, but the Eastern Rites are every bit as much Catholic Church as the Latin Rite.
It would take too long to discuss the similarities since the two are virtually identical. The schism was caused by the sacking of Constantinople during the crusades - condemned at the time by the Catholic pope. The reason for the scism was political rather than spiritual.
I was educated at a Benedictine Monastery and taught RE there by an Orthodox Priest. The Roman Catholic and Orthodox Catholic churches do remain close and over the years there have been attempts at reunion and I expect there will be more in the future.
Well, let's start with the Roman Catholic Church. It's just Catholic, not Roman Catholic. Roman is an epithet first commonly used in England after the protestant revolt to describe the Catholic Church. It is never used by the official Catholic Church.
The Eastern Catholic Church is composed of 8 Rites, which are all equal in dignity (if not in absolute numbers) to the Latin Rite. The Western Catholic Church is composed of the Latin Rite, which some call the Roman Rite as it is the Rite which originated in Rome - but that is not the same as "the Roman Catholic Church." In addition to being founded in a protestant insult, it is insulting to the 8 Eastern Rites which are excluded by the term "Roman Catholic Church".
Both believe in Apostolic Succession.
Both believe in devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary & all the Saints.
schism.....
The East–West Schism, commonly referred to as the Great Schism of 1054, is the break of communion between what are now the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches, which began in the 11th century and continues.
The split between the Eastern Orthodox and the western Catholic Churches was caused by a number of different factors. Namely, neither side could decide on the Pope's role in the church, or the scope of his authority.
Your question is too general. There are many things that were not a cause of tension between these belief systems. The colour of my dog for instance
The Great Schism was between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church (or Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox).
To differentiate between Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East one would use Roman Catholic.
Both began as forms of European Christianity. -Apex- :)
The Roman Catholic Church is normally known for using fresco's and Statues in their churches. Whereas The Eastern Orthodox Church uses mosaics and icons, with a small percentage of the time they will also use fresco's .
Christianity was split between the roman catholic church and the eastern orthodox church
Short answer: it was one of the causes of the split between the western and eastern Christian churches. The result of the split (schism) is the Catholic church (western) and Orthodox church (eastern).
Roman Catholics believe in Papal Primacy, Papal Infallibility, the Immaculate Conception, and Purgatory while Eastern Orthodox people do not. Roman Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, while Eastern Orthodox people believe that the Holy Spirit only proceeds from the Father.
There are several theological and political factors, but primarily the authority of the Pope