[NYer]

I always thought that the Roman Catholic Church looked upon the Pope as the head of the ENTIRE Catholic Church. I now try to distinguish between Catholic Church and Roman Catholic Church.

You are absolutely right! Perhaps you can now educate the Catholics on this matter ;-)

While I understand this comes from the Roman Catholic Church, I'm not sure the Orthodox would agree with this. They certainly don't agree with the filique in the Nicene Creed. They don't agree with some of the doctrines about Mary produced by the Roman Catholic Church and they certainly don't agree with the infallibility of the Pope. So how can the Pope be the final word?

The two churches were once one. Their division occurred nearly 1,000 years ago. The painstaking process of restoring unity is not something that can be accomplished overnight. However, progress is being made in that understanding.

From a 2007 Catholic News Service article:

Orthodox and Roman Catholics recognize that the bishop of Rome has primacy among all the world's bishops, although they disagree on the extent to which his leadership translates into a concrete exercise of authority.

Full text.

[HarleyD]

However, progress is being made in that understanding.

Why should there be any "progress" if the matter is based upon tradition? This wouldn't be something new but something that people would look back on with a clear trail.

On another point, from the article...

The document said that just as there is an order within the Trinity -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- there is "an order among local churches which, however, does not imply inequality in their ecclesial nature."

It doesn't sound to me as if there is much progress. Politics still remains politics. I doubt if you'll see the Orthodox giving up their control over their churches to Rome.