Finally, some relief from the EO's splashing along the banks of the Tiber. I can AMEN! to just about your entire post.
(Now don't go and retract any of it just because a Protestant high-fived you. After some of these posts, it's really a welcome pleasure to read that the EO actually HAS some disagreement with the RCC.)
The problem is — the priest is facing the altar
That is a problem. The Reformation solved that problem by having the pastor face his congregation, further stressing that the word of God was foremost in our worship, and that Christ was not hanging on a wall, but in every heart of every congregant in the church.
Amen Doctor! When the ancient Hebrews went on the march, Issachar (the tribe of scholars) marched in the front with the tribe of Judah, so highly was God's Word revered.
To me it's a painful confession, but truth sometimes hurts. Mary is a saint, a model for all of us, but she is not divine. We cannot bow to her, prostrate to her, ask her to save us (directly).
In that I am in disagreement not only with the RCs but with my own Orthodox brothers and sisters, but not with the Church. The fact is: the Orthodox Church has only one dogma regarding Mary: that she is the Theotokos. Everything else is not binding.
Kosta: The problem is — the priest is facing the altar
Dr. E: That is a problem. The Reformation solved that problem by having the pastor face his congregation
The problem is only insofar as the priest does not see what the congregation is doing. He is the pastor, leading his sheep, with his back turned toward them, engaged in a dialogue of praising God and asking for His mercy. The cross on the wall is not Christ, but an icon of Christ that makes us think of Him. Nothing wrong with that.