The differences between the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church, more imagined than real

One thing that has been of great importance to me is ending the schism between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.
I still believe most of these issues are more cultural and political than theological.
So, I think that most of these differences can be solved by understanding where the differences don't really exist.

Before we get started, please me sure to check out my previous article, A season for everything
Now, I should point out that I do NOT consider Russian Orthodox to be Eastern Orthodox, so many Americans get the Russian church very wrong.
Just as in the USSR, it was under control of the state, so, too, is it under Putin's Russian dictatorship.
Patriarch Shevchuk (head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church), correctly identified the “Russian world” ideology as “Russian Jihadism”,Ukrainian Patriarch in Washington: Putin Wants to ‘Erase’ Ukraine, and that's not even getting into the fact that Patriarch Kirill (Russian Orthodox “Patriarch”) was a spy for the KGB, KGB agent: Patriarch Kirill
But, the churches with Apostolic succession that haven't exchanged the glory of God for a lie, have more in common with Catholics than they know.
I think it might surprise even Catholics to know that there are millions of Catholics tiin communion with Rome that mostly use leavened bread for Holy Communion, have married priests, and don't usually use the Filioque. I speak, of course, of Eastern Catholics.
Now, either because of Western Catholic misunderstanding, or flat out ignorance, people get basic facts about this wrong.
Catholic Answers is usually really good about this, but they made a mistake claiming that leavened bread would invalidate the Eucharist in the Latin Rite. (or, at least that's how I read it, What If I Take Just the Chalice?)
And no less than the Catholic Encyclopedia explains why this is problematic;Azymites).
It might be an abuse to use leavened bread in the west, but it WOULD technically be valid.
That's said, there are legitimate reasons to use leavened bread, because it rises, and Jesus is the Living bread (John 6:35).
Now, there are completely valid (and biblical)! Reasons to use unleavened bread, for instance, since the Eucharist was clearly structured on a Passover meal, it's unlikely Jesus would have used leavened bread (See Exodus 13:3-10).
With regards to married priests, the reason Eastern Catholic priests aren't very common in the US is Bishop Ireland.(Fr. Alexis Toth, Bishop John Ireland, and the Grace of Reconciliation). Said priest, Fr. Toth, became Orthodox. NOT allowing married priests in the US caused a greater scandal than allowing them would ever have had. The US is a Protestant majority country, and, who knows, having married priests may have work out for evangelization, I believe that.
That said, I fully believe that, for now, the Latin Church should stick to clerical celibacy. Though, there is a tendency in the west to denigrate married priests while defending clerical celibacy.
Please stop.
About the only thing I can think is a problem is the role of the Pope of Rome. Even then, I think you can work that into an Eastern Orthodox framework. You may say “What about Purgatory? The Assumption of the Virgin Mary? Original Sin”?
A lot of those are because of the undue influence of the Russian church. I think, when we explain that we already largely have these things in common, we'll be that much closer to unity.
Where the Orthodox Meet Original Sin, Mary’s Assumption in the Eastern Tradition, The Orthodox View of Purgatory Is Surprisingly Catholic

Adam Charles Hovey is the founder of the Catholicism, News, and whatever community, and is the host of the weekly Bible study, Coffee and Christianity