Final answer:
The Eastern Church minimized the role of the Pope due to cultural, linguistic differences, and contrasting beliefs about church authority. The Great Schism of 1054 formalized the division, as both sides excommunicated each other. Political entanglements and corruption further undermined the papal authority, deepening the East-West rift in Christianity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Eastern Church tended to minimize the role of the Pope due to a number of linguistic, cultural, and doctrinal differences that emerged over time between the Eastern and Western branches of Christianity.
The Western Church, operating in Latin and insisting on a celibate clergy, elevated the Pope as the final authority on all matters regarding the church. In contrast, the Eastern Church used Greek, permitted married priests, and maintained that other patriarchs were as authoritative as the Pope.
Relations further deteriorated as the Great Schism of 1054 unfolded, in which mutual excommunications were declared between the Pope's representatives and the Patriarch of Constantinople, solidifying the division.
leading to the formation of the Eastern Orthodox Church, where the principle of pentarchy was emphasized, recognizing the five ancient patriarchal sees including Constantinople as significant centers of Christianity.
Contributing to these tensions was the shift in the role of the Pope from spiritual leader to a figure also embroiled in temporal, political power struggles, which weakened the perception of his spiritual authority especially after events like the Avignon Papacy and the Great Western Schism.
Over time, despite various reform movements, the Eastern Church's estrangement from papal dominance became entrenched, particularly as they rejected the concept of the Petrine Succession, which was a foundational basis for the Pope's claim to supremacy over the entire Christian church.