Trying to respond to this anti-Catholic Orthodox essay is like trying to catch every BB shot out of a fully-loaded cannon. It couldn’t be done without taking pages to do it.
However, I will say the following in general. First, one has to realize Eastern Orthodoxy is resolutely hostile to Latin Catholicism, and often for reasons that have nothing to do with theology. Eastern Orthodoxy is profoundly territorial, for one thing, and holds that the Latin Church cannot be “Catholic” or worldwide at all. Even the Americas, in which virtually all Catholics are Latins, must be cleansed of Latin Christianity.
Second, one has to realize that, among other things Eastern Orthodoxy opposes nearly all adaptations or doctrinal clarifications post the seventh Ecumenical Council (there have been nine). There is a reason for that. But suffice it to say that the Moscow Patriarchate accepts the sainthood of Tsar Nicholas and his family, and all kinds of miraculous events. It just doesn’t accept those of the Latins.
The article decries what it says is the deification of Mary while declaring the “deification” of everybody else. Now, probably the writer doesn’t mean “deification” of all Christians in the same way a westerner thinks of “deification”, but that’s my point. As a lifelong Catholic and one who grew up pre-VII, I never, ever, ever heard or read anyone who actually claimed Mary to be divine or the source of salvation.
So what, to a knowledgeable Catholic is she? I think nearly any Catholic would say she is worthy of high veneration. Even Muslims grant that. Like any saint, she is dear to Our Lord and as such can likely have “authority” to “ask” for extraordinary graces if we ask. After all, we, as Catholics, don’t choke on the idea of asking the prayers of particularly holy people, and we don’t blanch at the thought that the Church has “authority” to teach, to counsel, to aid our return to grace, and to pray for us. If so, why would the Mother of Jesus be disqualified from such things.
Finally, the very adaptability of the Latin Church to places, peoples and times is a strength, not a weakness. The Latin Church has over a billion adherents worldwide, while Eastern Orthodoxy claims some 270 million adherents, virtually all of whom are in Russia and whose actual adherence is probably not greater than 15% of that population, despite the claim of 150 million adherents there. Numbers don’t resolve the issue, but they can tell us something about the wisdom (perhaps even the salvific power) of adaptation to times, peoples and places.
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