Most Orthodox say Mary's sinlessness and perhaps even Her Immaculate Conception is a theologoumenon, i.e. a legitimate theological opinion which can be dogmatically defined in an Ecumenical Council. If that's the case, well, what's preventing Catholic-Orthodox Bishops from studying the issue together, and perhaps issuing a doctrinal declaration to settle it? Even if Mary's personal sinlessness alone was defined (something very evident in Latin Doctors like St. Augustine and St. Ambrose, Syrian Fathers like St. Ephrem, Greek Fathers like the Saintly Damascene etc), that would be hugely pleasing to God and a great step toward Unity in Truth and Love imho. Comments?
The problem with the dogma of the Immaculate Conception is it's two-fold.
1. The satisfaction / Augustinian theology that serves as premises of the dogma.
2. It's a dogma
The dogma of the Immaculate Conception says that, in addition to receiving a special grace from God, she was preserved due to the infinite merits of Christ.
Satisfaction theory was an explicitly Western developed idea which became salient around the time of Anselm of Canterbury - who is a post-schism Roman saint. The Orthodox Church rejects that the sin of Adam has created some sort of Divine Wrath and Justice that was inflicted on humanity until Christ, that could only be atoned for Christ's sacrifice.
Yes, the Original Sin did separate us from God, but nothing in God changed in terms of how He viewed man or that He needed Divine Justice to fix the guilt and condemnation we have put on ourselves - we cut ourselves off alone, and God because He loves us specifically undid the wrong of Adam (alone) by becoming the New Adam, so that through Him we can enter into Eden once more by having our human nature restored.
The rejection of Satisfaction theory is linked to the rejection of Augustinian theology on inherited guilt (not personal guilt, but the guilt of Adam which permanently separates us from God), which is also present in the premise of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
It's a Coptic Orthodox video, but here's an explanation of it:
The premise of the Ex Cathedra dogma specifically embraces this satisfaction theory by referencing the "Merits of Christ," but moreso says that Christ's infinite merits and Sacrifice in the future are specifically linked as to how and why the Virgin Mary was sanctified from the moment of her conception.
The Orthodox Church has more clearly rejected these two theologies which already imply rejection of the explicit dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
What IS a theologoumenon is that the Virgin Mary was sanctified from the First Moment of her conception by the Holy Spirit, such that her passions were restrained even as a baby. However, this is something that will have to be debated and discussed by the Orthodox Church; we can't dogmatize something due to Ecumenism - and I don't think you would want to dogmatize something either because of it.
For the Immaculate Conception to be reconciliable, Satisfaction Theology and Augustinian Theology needs to be reconciled with Orthodox / Cappadocian Theology first and foremost, if such a thing is even possible.
