Editing Pope Anastasius II (section)

==Acacian schism and conciliation==
The church had been in a serious doctrinal dispute since 484, between the Eastern and Western churches of Christianity, known as the [[Acacian schism]]. Popes [[Felix III]] (483–492) and [[Gelasius I]] (492–496) had generally taken hardline stances towards the Eastern church and had excommunicated many of the major religious figures including [[Patriarch Acacius of Constantinople]]. Efforts at reducing the problem by [[Zeno (emperor)|Zeno]] were not recognized by Felix III or Gelasius I and so there was a large schism between the churches. Upon the death of Gelasius I, Anastasius II was named pope largely with support from a faction that wanted to improve relations between the West and the Eastern churches and end the schism.<ref name=McBrien>{{cite book|author=Richard P. McBrien|title=Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to John Paul II|url=https://archive.org/details/livesofpopespont00mcbr|url-access=registration|access-date=8 March 2013|year=1997|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-065304-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/livesofpopespont00mcbr/page/82 82]–83}}</ref><ref name=Morehead>{{cite journal|last=Morehead|first=John|title=The Laurentian Schism: East and West in the Roman Church|journal=Church History|year=1978|volume=47|issue=2|pages=125–136|doi=10.2307/3164729|jstor=3164729|s2cid=162650963 }}</ref>

Upon being named pope, Anastasius II immediately sent two bishops to Constantinople to meet with the [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Anastasius I (emperor)|Anastasius I]], who had the same name as the pope, and work on an agreement to end the Acacian schism.<ref name=Morehead/> Anastasius II indicated in a letter that he was willing to accept the baptisms that had been performed by Acacius and to let the issue be decided by the divine rather than by church authorities<ref name=Morehead/> and Anastasius I seemed similarly willing to cooperate but wanted acceptance of the ''[[Henotikon]]'', the compromise position developed by Zeno.<ref name=McBrien /> As a signal of attempting to reduce the tension, Anastasius II was rumored to have given [[Communion (Christian)|communion]] to [[Photinus of Thessalonica]], an associate of Acacius.<ref name=McBrien />

The result of these conciliatory gestures was to outrage many of the bishops and clergy in Rome and to create a clear division between those who supported moderation toward the [[Monophysitism|Monophysites]] in the Byzantine Empire and those who opposed such moderation.<ref name=Morehead/> Because of the communion with Photinus, many in Rome refused to receive communion from Anastasius II and the situation grew to a crisis point.<ref name=McBrien />