Freethought Almanac

Lighting a candle in toxic air.

December 7: End of the Great Schism (1965)

It was on this date, December 7, 1965, that Roman Catholic Pope Paul VI and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I (Αθηναγόρας Α’) simultaneously lifted the 900-year-old mutual excommunications that led to the split of their two churches in 1054. An excommunication in the Dark Ages actually meant something, whereas today it would be a laughing matter. That’s progress. But even in the 11th century, the power of the Roman Church to punish heresy was employed with a political tone-deafness, and a preference for instant gratification over the long-term interests of the Church, that was repeated with similar loss for the Church in the excommunication of King Henry VIII.

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Originally published December 2003 by Ronald Bruce Meyer.

Ronald Bruce Meyer

Our Fearless Leader.


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September 29: Michael Servetus

Michael Servetus (1511) It was on this date, September 29, 1511,* that the Spanish cleric Miguel Serveto, known by his Latinized name, Michael Servetus, was born in Villanueva. Recognizing an incipient intellect, at the age of 13, his father, a Roman Catholic cleric, sent his son to study at the University of Zaragoza/Lerida. It developed […]



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