You know, I just finished re-reading a part of Bishop Kallistos Ware’s book, The Orthodox Church, that dealt with this very issue. Clearly, the West started using this in certain areas (mostly Spain and then spreading north and east) in the fifth century, which was well before the later councils on icons and other disputes. I believe the Bishop of Rome did not use it until the 11th century in consecrating a new emperor for the “Holy Roman Empire”–which came at a bad time and sent the Patriarch of Constantinople off a bit, naturally. Even so, it seems the good Eastern Orthodox bishop feels that much of this was hyped up by the Byzantine Church in increasingly shrill voices after the sack of Byzantium (then Constantinople) in 1204, which was a tragedy.
From what I can tell, the East and West (speaking only of the two lungs of the catholic orthodox church) in the last century have had a serious re-approachement and it is no longer felt the filioque is the theological hurdle that impedes formal reunification. I think the majority of the bishops in both parts of the world concur in this. But, I can tell you from attending a Divine Liturgy recently, that some of the “people in the pew” have strong anti-Roman feelings. I was at a well known Greek Orthodox Church during the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul and the priest mentioned that Partiarch Bartholomew and Pope Benedict XVI were together in Rome co-celebrating the feast, to which was heard hissing and booing. The priest then attempted to calm everyone down by saying that this did not mean reunification was pending, only that is was a postive step towards the two branches drawing closer together. To me, that visceral reaction by the populace says a lot about how that anger and dislike spills over into finer, more nuanced theological issues like the filioque. I could be wrong, but that is how I read it at present. At the end of the day, the mystery of the Blessed Trinity is never able to be fully grasped, only wondered at. Shalom!
