(religion) A formal division or split within a religious body.
(Catholicism) a split within Christianity whereby a group no longer recognizes the Bishop of Rome as the head of the Church, but shares essentially the same beliefs with the Church of Rome. In other words, a political split without the introduction of heresy.
“Some churchmen are heard to grumble about violations of the prohibitions of shared worship with heretics and schismatics.”
“Bishops who deny the authority of Scripture and declare that God has changed his mind on matters of sexual ethics, they say, are heretics, not just schismatics.”
“The famous raskolniki schismatics had a similar superstition to the Mahometan one mentioned above.”