The ball is in the Holy See’s court as the Syro-Malabar Church and the papal delegate failed to resolve it
Catholics from Ernakulam-Angamali archdiocese protested in front of St.Peter’s Square on May 4 demanding recognition for their traditional Mass and solutions to other issues plaguing the archdiocese, as the Permanent Synod of their Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church met Vatican officials. (Photo supplied)
The Vatican is expected to take a decision on India’s decades-old liturgy dispute after the Syro-Malabar Church and the papal delegate failed to resolve it.
“We are awaiting a favorable reply from the Vatican,” said Riju Kanjookaran, spokesperson of the Archdiocesan Movement for Transparency (AMT), a forum of priests, religious and the laity.
The AMT has been spearheading the protest in Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese in southern Kerala, the seat of power of Major Archbishop Cardinal George Alancherry, and home to half a million of the Church’s 5 million Catholics worldwide.
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The pontifical delegate, Slovakian Archbishop Cyril Vasil, failed in his mission to end the dispute over celebrating Holy Qurbana (Mass) in the archdiocese and returned on Aug. 23.
The bishops’ synod, the top decision-making body of the Kerala-based Church, then appointed a nine-member bishops’ panel. It held talks with the representatives of the dissident priests and the laity on Aug. 26.
“Right now, I would not like to make any comment on the outcome of the meeting. But one thing is sure. The laity will not accept the uniform mode of Mass,” Kanjookaran told UCA News on Aug. 28.
According to sources, the prelates’ panel is expected to share the concerns with the Vatican as the archdiocese is currently placed under the control of the pontifical delegate.
The pontifical delegate came after a series of untoward incidents like public rallies, the burning of effigies, police cases and the closure of St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica in Ernakulam.
As a compromise deal, the bishops’ panel wanted the priests to offer the synod-approved Mass only once in the archdiocese.
The priests and the laity in the archdiocese want the celebrant to face the congregation throughout the Mass, unlike the Synod-approved Mass in which the celebrant faces the altar during Eucharistic prayer.
Barring the archdiocese, all 34 dioceses of the second largest Eastern rite Church have implemented the Synod-approved Mass.
At the meeting, the priests’ representatives agreed to accommodate the demands after consulting with the laity, the sources said.
“We have already informed our stand to the Synod and the Vatican through resolutions passed by our parishes in favor of the traditional Mass,” Kanjookaran added.
“There is no change from that.”
The priests, however, agreed to allow one Synod-approved Mass to be celebrated at St. Mary’s Cathedral on Sundays which is closed since Dec. 24, 2022, following clashes inside it, the sources added.
Cardinal Alencherry, 78, will be allowed to offer the Synod-approved Mass in the cathedral on five feast days, like Christmas and Easter, in a year.
There is also a suggestion of having a synod-approved Mass in seminaries once a month. Bishops from the archdiocese and outside will be allowed to follow the approved Mass during funerals, weddings and other functions of their immediate family members.
The meeting also discussed holding the synod-approved Mass at St. Thomas Church, Malayatoor, a major pilgrimage center in Kerala, believed to be visited by St. Thomas the Apostle.
The priests’ representatives sought the immediate removal of Archbishop Andrews Thazhath as apostolic administrator of the archdiocese.
They accused the prelate of aggravating the crisis with his ‘dictatorial acts’ since his appointment on July 30, 2022.
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