Filioque

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This article is part of a series on
Catholic–Eastern Orthodox relations
Overview
Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church
Schisms Acacian schism (484–519) Photian schism (863–867) Great Schism (1054–)
Reasons for the Great Schism Papal supremacy (differing views) Ecclesiastical differences Filioque (differing views) Theological differences
Further division motives Massacre of the Latins (1182) Sack of Constantinople (1204) Pratulin Martyrs (1874)
Medieval reunification attempts Council of Bari (1098) Second Council of Lyon (1274) Council of Florence (1438–1445) Bull of Union with the Greeks
Modern ecumenic relations Catholic–Orthodox Joint Declaration (1965) Balamand declaration (1993) Dominus Iesus (2000) Ravenna Document (2007) Havana Declaration (2016) Pope John Paul II's relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church Church of the Holy Sepulchre Eastern Catholic Churches Eastern Catholic liturgy Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church Papal primacy Sister church
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Filioque (/ˌfɪliˈoʊkwi, -kweɪ/ FIL-ee-OH-kwee, -⁠kway; Ecclesiastical Latin: [filiˈokwe]), a Latin term meaning "and from the Son," was added to the original Nicene Creed, and has been the subject of great controversy between Eastern and Western Christianity. The term refers to the Son, Jesus Christ, with the Father, as the one shared origin of the Holy Spirit. It is not in the original text of the Creed, attributed to the First Council of Constantinople (381), which says that the Holy Spirit proceeds "from the Father" ("τὸ έκ του Πατρὸς έκπορευόμενον") without the addition "and the Son".^[1]

In the late 6th century, some Latin Churches added the words "and from the Son" (Filioque) to the description of the procession of the Holy Spirit, in what many Eastern Orthodox Christians have at a later stage argued is a violation of Canon VII^{[2][full citation needed]} of the Council of Ephesus, since the words were not included in the text by either the First Council of Nicaea or that of Constantinople.^{[3][full citation needed]} The inclusion was incorporated into the liturgical practice of Rome in 1014, but was rejected by Eastern Christianity.

Whether that term Filioque is included, as well as how it is translated and understood, can have important implications for how one understands the doctrine of the Trinity, which is central to the majority of Christian churches. For some, the term implies a serious underestimation of God the Father's role in the Trinity; for others, its denial implies a serious underestimation of the role of God the Son in the Trinity.

The term has been an ongoing source of difference between Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity, formally divided since the East–West Schism of 1054.^[4] There have been attempts at resolving the conflict. Among the early attempts at harmonization are the works of Maximus the Confessor, who notably was canonized independently by both Eastern and Western churches. Differences over this and other doctrines, and mainly the question of the disputed papal primacy, have been and remain the primary causes of the schism between the Eastern Orthodox and Western churches.^[5][6]