“If Rome wants union with the Orthodox a good starting point would be to recognize the self-governance of the Eastern Catholic patriarchates apart from the Roman curia.”
I used to be EC. My family “doxed” 8 years ago when we got tired of the never-ending stream of “bi-ritual” priests and angry Latins who wanted more post Vatican II smells and bells.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was when the priest and some church members came to my wife (choir director) and demanded she not sing the correct tropar and kontakia (they had other hynmns to sing) and add “and the son” to the creed. She brought up the fact that our agreement to come into communion with Rome specifically stated (among other things immediately ignored by Rome) that the filioque need not be said and that our liturgy would remain unchanged.
Indeed, the agreement REQUIRES Rome to allow married EC priests, with NO stipulation as to the location of the parish.
Not surprisingly, now that we doxed, we get to live our Faith as handed down by the Church fathers without demands of massive changes from Latins.
But with efforts being made by PBXVI to outreach to the Eastern Orthodox Churches, things couuld ease up.