The split can be violent or nonviolent but results in at least one of the two newly created bodies considering itself distinct from the other.
In ecclesiastical usage, the term "heresy" refers to a serious confrontation based on disagreements over fundamental issues of faith or morality, while the term "schism" usually means a lesser form of disunity caused by organizational or less important ideological differences.
In Christian theology, the concept of the unity of the Church was developed by the Apostles, Holy Fathers and apologists.
The greatest contribution to the doctrine of church unity was made by the apostles Peter and Paul, Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus of Lyons, Cyprian of Carthage, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, and John of Damascus.
[2][3] Canon 751 of the Latin Church's 1983 Code of Canon Law, promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1983, defines schism as the following: "schism is the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him".