Originally posted by Radagast
the differences are all about the heirarchy of the church. after the schism of 1056 (? not sure about the date), catholicism and orthodoxy split because half believed that the pope was the head of the church, and the other half believed that the byzantine emperor was. a similar difference of opinion caused the sunni and shiite faiths, but i'm a little iffey on the details.
Shiite are more orthodox and Sunni more liberal.
Some would say Shiite are more "fundamentalist".