I can see how the glitter of the RCC can turn people off, myself included. Many will say the EOC is much more "humble." However, that is primarily because of the fact that the EOC was clubbered from left and right over the centuries.
At one time, Hagia Sophia stood in full glitter in Constantinople and such such bright exceptions as +John Chrysostom pressed hard for both laity and clergy to tone down their love of glitter.
But I don't see Protestant tele evangelists living a life of chastity and poverty either. Those who enjoy benefits in the RC Church do not own any of its wealth. The Prots, on the other hand, became personally wealthy by selling God.
As for your comment, I ask you: what good would be handing out bibles to a bunch of illiterate peasants? By your logic, we don't need teachers because we can all learn on our own.
There is nothing more arrogant and conceited than the Protestant notion that we personally can know better than the collective wisdom and knowledge of all the members of the church to this very day.
there are plenty of humble little Orthodox parishes but there’s a lot of huge cathedrals too and most are actually overflowing.
i’m very happy to see things like the rebuilt ‘Church of the Savior’ in Moscow, and the Cathedral of St Sava in Belgrade.
But I was also happy to see when in Russia last year a parish which the Soviets had demolished rebuilt by locals and a collection jar for passing travelers at a nearby cafe. It was in Pokrov Russia (somewhere between Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod)... I wouldn’t call the parish huge, probably medium sized, but it was packed when I stopped there traveling back to Moscow...