By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi: India’s two Oriental Catholic Churches will continue to follow the tradition for the washing of the feet ritual on Maundy Thursday.
The religious rite commemorates Jesus washing the feet of Apostles during the Last Supper, a day before his crucifixion and death on the cross on a Friday. Maundy Thursday this year falls on April 13.
The Syro-Malabar Church’s Synod of Bishops has instructed its parishes to continue the practice of the washing of 12 men or boys on Maundy Thursday, says a circular Cardinal George Alencherry issued on March 26.
The cardinal, who heads the larger of the two Oriental rites, addressed the circular to the priests, religious and laity of his Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese. He is based at Kochi, the commercial capital of Kerala, southern India. Bishops of other Syro-Malabar dioceses such as Thamarassery have also issued similar circulars.
However, no such circular will be issued by the other Oriental rite, the Syro-Malankara Church. “We have not yet issued such circulars. I think there will not be such circulars in future. In Malankara tradition only bishops conduct washing of the feet. We normally do it in the cathedral,” its spokesperson Father Bovas Mathew told Matters India on March 27.
The priest, who is based at Thiruvananthapuram, the Church’s base and Kerala’s capital, says the faithful of his Church are “very much aware” of the tradition. “Bishops in the place of Jesus wash the feet of 12 men in the place of 12 disciples. At the end of the liturgy one of the 12, representing Peter, washes the bishop’s feet,” he explained the ritual in his Church.
The priest indicated there could be changes in future. “It does not mean that this custom will last until the second coming of our Lord,” he said.
The Churches’ stand assumes significance in view of growing pressure on them to follow the example of Pope Francis. The pontiff included women and members of other religions for the ritual from 2013, the year he was elected to head the Catholic Church. On January 6, 2016, Pope Francis brought changes in the Maundy Thursday rites to include all sections of people for the washing of feet.
As the papal move evoked mixed reactions the Congregation of the Oriental Churches clarified that the changes apply only the Latin rite, Cardinal Alencherry notes.
The Oriental Churches view the Maundy Thursday rites as sign and example of Christ’s redemptive sacrifice on the cross, the cardinal explains. The prelate says the Eastern Churches understand the feet washing not just a symbol of humility and equality but a means to reach the redemptive mystery to all human race through the chosen people.
The Syro-Malabar major archbishop also points out that Christ washed the feet of only his 12 disciples with the command to do that in his memory. The Oriental Churches, including those outside the Catholic fold, have upheld Jesus’s command by washing the feet of only men or boys. “The Syro-Malabar Church wishes to continue this practice in the present pastoral and social situation,” the cardinal explains.
He says the Maundy Thursday rites help his people to have God experience and the feet washing for them is a heart touching practice.
Last year, a Syro-Malabar parish priest in Kerala created history when he included women for the washing of feet ritual, defying his Oriental Church’s diktat.
Fr Jose Vailikodath of the Blessed Sacrament Church, Cardinal Nagar, Kochi, justified his decision to include women saying he was “just implementing a revolutionary decision” taken by the Pope.
Father Vailikodath’s act did not go down well with his Church leaders, who probed the priest’s action.