Over a century after the schism of 1054, the Frankish Pope Innocent III (1198-1216), made the following declaration: "The sign of the cross is made with three fingers, because the signing is done together with the invocation of the Trinity. ... This is how it is done: from above to below, and from the right to the left, because Christ descended from the heavens to the earth, and from the Jews (right) He passed to the Gentiles (left)."

The practice of making the sign of the cross with three fingers may or may not have originated in the West. Nevertheless, it existed in the West by at least the year 855, before the repose of the Orthodox Pope Leo IV, and thus was practiced in the Orthodox West before the schism of 1054, and even for several centuries after the schism. In the East, the practice of making the sign of the cross with three fingers was the common practice by at least the 12th century. Thus the Greek Church, the Serbs, Bulgarians, Albanians, Georgians, Wallachians, Moldavians and even the Russians living under Polish rule all adopted the signing of the cross using three fingers representing the Holy Trinity. Interestingly, the use of three fingers also became the norm among the Monophysites Copts, Syrians, Armenians, and even the far off Ethiopians. However, all of the Monophysites make the sign of the cross from right to left, contrary similarly to the practice of the Orthodox. The Nestorians of Mesopotamia, Persia and India also use three fingers today. This is ironic because the Nestorians would want to emphasize the two natures of Christ. Yet they do not sign the cross with two fingers representing the two natures, but rather with three fingers representing the Holy Trinity. The Nestorians also sign the cross from right to left, thereby having the exact same practice as the Greeks.