By Matters India Reporters
New Delhi, Nov 28, 2021: Tension prevailed in several parishes in the Syro-Malabar Church on November 28, the date set by its Synod to implement a new form of offering Mass.
Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Oriental Catholic Church, called for prayers for unity and peace, as it implemented a unified system of celebration of the Mass, the synod of bishops decided in August.
The cardinal, who led the Sunday Mass at St. Thomas Mount in Kakkanad, the Church’s headquarters, said God would not abandon his people and the faithful have to wait with hope and prayers. There was no need for fear as voices differ, he said during the homily.
The cardinal is the archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly where almost all the 431 parishes and around 90 religious houses celebrated the Mass with the celebrant facing the congregation throughout.
A letter from the Congregation for Oriental Churches in Rome addressed to Archbishop Antony Kariyil, Metropolitan Vicar of the archdiocese, said the vicar could dispense with the unified Mass system. The other dioceses too, were reportedly issued sanction to continue with the status quo in keeping with their practices.
Only one parish in the archdiocese reportedly celebrated the Mass under the unified system.
At the same time trouble was reported from some parishes in the diocese of Faridabad that covers the national capital.
Archbishop Kuriakose Bharanikulangara of Faridabad told Matters India that dispute existed among his people regarding the implementation of the new mode of liturgy.
The diocese has some 40 parishes in the national capital. While some want parishes to implement the Synod Mass, others resent it.
“Space constraint is a major problem we face to follow the new mode of Mass. Most of our Mass centers are in residential areas and have practical difficulty to have two sections at the altar,” Archbishop Bharanikulangara explained.
The archbishop said three parishes did not allow priests to celebrate Mass facing the people, another three forced the priests to offer Mass in the new mode –facing the people in the beginning and at the end of the Mass, and facing the altar during its most significant part. The Kristuraja Cathedral Church in Faridabad was forced to celebrate Mass according to the new mode.
“This is only for today, from tomorrow we will continue with the existing form,” Archbishop Bharanikulangara said.
The archbishop’s November 27 circular cited difficulties in following the Synod decision. He said Cannon Law 1538 gives the bishop the right to decide on pastoral matters, considering the spiritual wellbeing the of the faithful.
However, all churches in the diocese used the revised liturgical text, the archbishop said.
Earlier on November 27, Cardinal Alencherry had said he had not received any communication from Rome regarding exemption being provided to the synodal decision and he expected all dioceses to implement the synodal decision.
The St. Alphonsa Forane Church in Mangaluru in the Syro-Malabar Beltangady diocese celebrated the Mass according to the revised liturgy.
Joseph Joe, a parishioner said he could not find anything significantly different as his church have been following the form suggested by the synod for years.
“Only some words were changed in the prayers,” he said. He said the faithful were given the new liturgy book and the Mass was video recorded “presumably as a proof of obeying the synod decision.”
His wife, Anju, too did not notice anything significantly different, except using some alternative words to mean the same. “These are simple changes and I do not see any reasons for someone to protest,” the mother of two told Matters India.
Joseph says these changes would neither increase people’s faith nor improve their spirituality, but only lead to unnecessary debates.
Outside India , Bishop Joseph Srampickal , head of the Syro Malabar Eparchy of Great Britain celebrated mass in the unified system . The bishop was celebrating holy mass for the inauguration of St Mary’s & St Wilfred Syro Malabar Catholic Parish in the Eparchy of GB. The eparchy currently has 173 mass centres serving around 38,000 members of Syro Malabar Community. Around 54 priests from the Syro Malabar community currently serve in the UK.
(With inputs from Jessy Joseph, Thomas Scaria and Smitha George)