Orthodox* History The official doctrines of the Christian faith were established over a period of time, starting with councils dating from as early as 325 ad, where the leaders from all the Christian communities attended There were seven such councils that were recognized by the Eastern Church: Councils of Nicaea (325 ad), Constantinople I (381), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451), Constantinople II (553), Constantinople III (680), and Nicaea II (787) In the beginning of Christianity, the Eastern and Western Christians shared the same doctrines, but the two began to divide after the seventh Council in 787 ad; finally split over a conflict with Rome in the Great Schism (a difference in both theological and ecclesiastical concepts) in 1054 Until that time, the five great patriarchal sees (the official seat of a bishop) were Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem After the break with Rome, Orthodoxy became Eastern, and the dominant expression of Christianity in the eastern Mediterranean, much of Asia Minor, Russian, and Balkans.1 In the minds of most Orthodox, the decisive moment was the sacking of Constantinople in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade The sacking of the Church of Holy Wisdom and establishment of the Latin Empire as a seeming attempt to supplant the Orthodox Byzantine Empire is viewed with some rancor to the present day This has never been forgotten (In 2004, Pope John Paul II extended a formal apology for the sacking of Constantinople in 1204; the apology was formally accepted by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople However, many things that were stolen during this time—holy relics, riches, and many other items—were not returned and are still held in various Western European cities, particularly Venice.) * Within many of these religions there are subgroups Because of space constraints, the subgroup with the highest number of members was the primary focus, and the other subgroups would be briefly described within the text of the religion