I respectfully point you to what is likely to become a very spirited (though I pray not polemic) debate over at Energetic Procession. The topic raised is in response to the recent letter from the CDF regarding non (Roman) Catholic churches. The official position is that the Orthodox Church is schismatic and therefor "deficient" or defective in some way, but we remain a "true and particular church" with "valid" sacraments. This is based on the peculiar position of the Latin Church which has to some degree separated the sacraments from The Church. That is to say they may operate independently of The Church provided "valid" apostolic lines etc. are maintained. This is quite different from the traditional Orthodox position which is that there are no Mysteries outside The Church.
Even so it is worth noting that Orthodoxy has never spoken definitely on the current nature of the Roman Church; thus the opinions expressed on this subject are essentially theologumen pending an authoritative decision. Of course this has in no way impeded the discussion of the "do Rome's sacraments retain grace or not" debate over the years. While I am not planning on joining the fray some of the points being made are bound to be worth reading for those who don't mind mind a little hot sauce on their debates.
For anyone interested in my own views they remain pretty much unchanged from what I wrote here.
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