Our Churches formed in different cultures and backgrounds. It is not surprising that one focuses on one thing, and the other focuses on something else. Neither of us has the perfect answer - life is not black and white. People approach the faith differently, and I don't think either is necessary wrong, just different. Thus, I don't like to criticize the Orthodox for their stance regarding divorce. I don't see it as a dogmatic teaching of the faith. Perhaps estabishing an ideal, that in practical terms will fail, sets us Catholics up for the potential that appears that we are dismissing that a sin has occured. But this is what our Church has taught and continues to teach. It is OUR expression of coming to God, to move towards the ideal, just as the Orthodox have their own particular expressions. Thanks for your insight on this issue. You have presented me an interesting point of view regarding annulment.
Regards
And we can trace differences in the historical backgrounds as differences in approach. Catholic legalism goes back to the feudal political decentralization, where the Church, unable to rely on the feudal protostate delivering justice had to provide her own law. In contrast to that, the Orthodox Church had a full cooperation of a centralized state, Byzantium or the White Tsar during her formative years.
When the state became powerful in the Orthodox experience it became not merely non-cooperative but outright hostile. Such were the Chaliphate, the Ottoman Empire and the Soviet Union. This also favored autokephalous ethnic guerilla Churches operating in survival mode under the radar of the state. In contrast, again, Rome has not faced a hostile state all that much, but more typically loyal opposition of the German emperors or philosophical schisms of Protestantism and Enlightenment. These conflicts were better fought from a unified ideological postion.
"People approach the faith differently, and I don't think either is necessary wrong, just different. Thus, I don't like to criticize the Orthodox for their stance regarding divorce."
I quite agree that there certainly needs to be room for latitude, since even in the days of complete unity in the Church, there was never complete uniformity of practice. Some of your Catholic brothers on this forum would disagree with you, though. Some have said that having Orthodox practice conform to Catholic practice with regard to marriage and divorce needs to be a prerequisite to any union -- even going so far as to imply that it, along with the Pope stuff, was really the only non-negotiable.
I really don't care, since neither I nor my great-grandchildren will ever see union between Orthodoxy and Catholicism (although I do think it will eventually happen in a couple of centuries.) I just found it to be an interesting choice of something to make non-negotiable.
We did indeed have a good discussion, and I certainly wish you the best in trying to improve the state of marriage in your church.