Hello Brother Curtis --
I do hope you are feeling better. Sounds like something dreadful got a'holt of ya.
As Christianity developed, there developed two distinctly different schools of theology and spirituality. In the Orthodox east, Constantinople was considered to be the center of all things. Eastern thought was distinctly mystical in its outlook, focusing on the developing of our union with Christ. In such atmosphere, monasticism had its start. Such works as the Philokalia and The Ladder of Divine Ascent are reflective of this mindset.
In the West, of which Rome was the head, the spirituality took a more scholastic and, especially after St. Augustine, legally defined take. While the emphasis in the Eastern Orthodox Church is the developement of one's walk with Christ and becoming like Him through contemplation, prayer, and the Sacraments, the Western approach is more oriented to the doing of social good, scholastic understanding, and the Sacraments. Note that the Sacraments and the teaching on them was the binding doctrine for the 1000 years of unity between East and West.
After the schism of 1054, the Orthodox and Catholic Churches issued mutual excommunications and pretty much went their own ways. Attempts were made at reconcilliation, the last one being the failed Council of Florence if memory serves me correctly. From thence on, the Catholic Church was extremely busy with the new teachings of the Reformation and turned its attention elsewhere.
However, there were certain political issues which were still unresolved and which altered the eclessiastical landscape. Such a political situation existed in the area of Europe now known as the Ukraine, and for highly political reasons, the Orthodox Church in this area decided to come once again under the headship of the Holy Father. This was accomplished at the Union of Brest and the Union of Uzuhrod. The Orthodox churches which were there were united with the Roman pontiff and enjoyed certain political advantages, not the least of which was military protections from neighboring Catholic countries against the ever threatening invasion of pagans.
However, this union did not come without a cost to us. For some reason, perhaps to show their willingness to accomodate the Latin Church, over a period of centuries, certain "Latinisms" crept into the Byzantine Catholic Church until it lost a great deal of its Eastern identity. In America, this was most pronounced when the Irish Catholic bishops raised cain with the Holy Father over the issue of our married priests. We conceded the point and as of yet, while John Paul II has encouraged the Eastern Church to practice its Eastern heritage, none of our bishops has had the testicular fortitude to do so -- a point which is a very SORE spot with many who feel that a married priesthood is indeed our right as ORTHODOX Catholics.
At
ST. ANN'S BYZANTINE CATHOLIC CHURCH in Harrisburg, a church considered by many to be the "jewel of the Eparchy (diocese to you westerners)" almost ALL of the Orthodox practices have been restored to their original beauty. If you will go to this web site and look around, you will see an Orthodox Church. This is my HOME.
Our Liturgy is almost indistinguishable from a Russian or Greek Orthodox Liturgy. Old Church Slavonic is used in parts of the Liturgy to keep us in touch with the old world from which many of the families here take their roots. The Iconostasis (icon screen in front of the altar) has been restored (many were torn down during the "latinizations"). The Liturgy, hymnology, and chanting of the psalter come from the tones of the 6th century liturgy written by St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom. The only thing in which we are still "latinized" is the use of pews. (True Orthodox consider pews good for only one thing -- firewood). But these are NOT doctrinal issues. They are culturalisms of worship and administrative issues with which the Holy Father has no argument.
As for the issue with the Holy Father. The differences between the East and the West are more of the administrative type than the doctrinal type. As Easterners, for instance, we do not celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. But we have our own tradition, which goes back to the verbal tradition handed down from the apostles. It is called The Dormition (falling asleep) of Mary.
In like manner, we commune our babies as soon as they can swallow rather than waiting for a time of "confirmation". This was the practice of the whole Church in the beginning, and only in the last couple of hundred years did the Latin rite leave this practice. We have always practice the Body and Blood under both species in one chalice. We immerse for baptism, which again was the ancient rite. We do not say the "filioque" clause of the Nicene Creed, which is a BIG (and I mean REALLY BIG) issue for those Orthodox churches which are still separated from Rome.
As for the Holy Father just pulling a doctrinal rabbit out of his hat -- it will not happen that way. That is not how doctrine is made. For a doctrine to be binding, it must be confirmed by the whole of an "ecummenical" council (The word ecummenical come from the Greek world "oikoumene" and is translated "world" in Scripture) In other words, a council of ALL the bishops of the world. Until the Orthodox come back to the fold, there really cannot be a truly ecummenical council of the Church, since the Orthodox are considered to be of the Church despite the fact that they refuse to acknowledge the leadership of the Holy Father. Therefore, we are really, as Orthodox in communion with Rome, only bound by the first 7 councils. All others are local councils to the Latin rite and deal with their "in house" problems, such as the issue of defining the Eucharist at Trent in the face of opposition from the Reformers. We simply, as Orthodox, never faced that problem. For us, it has always been the Body and Blood of Christ without opposition.
Hope that is somewhat helpful. I take sides with my Latin brothers here because we are in the same boat, but there are things which belong to us in the East which I would simply not desire to change or to "go West" on.
Cordially in Christ,
Brother Ed