By Jessy Joseph

New Delhi, August 8, 2022: Some 60,000 Catholics from 320 parishes of Ernakulam Angamaly Syro-Malabar archdiocese on August 7 attended a massive faith protection rally and convention.

The convention held in Kochi’s Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium sought to ‘’implement the restitution recommended by the Vatican in the controversial land deals involving the archdiocese,’’ P P Jerard, archdiocesan pastoral council secretary, told Matters India.

It also demanded to know the reason for the forcible removal of Archbishop Antony Kariyil, from the post of metropolitan vicar of the archdiocese.

Another demand was to continue to stick to the traditional way of conducting Mass with the priest facing the congregation throughout, Jerard added.

“For the last 60 years, we have been following Holy Mass with the priest facing the people. We will not accept any decision that derails our traditional practice,’’ Jerard asserted.

He said the Catholics in the archdiocese want accountability and transparency in the functioning of the archdiocese.

“We will oppose at any cost the attempts of the Synod to impose its decisions on liturgy,” he added.

A resolution passed at the convention says the archdiocese is the ‘mother’ of the faithful who want the fully congregation-facing Mass in keeping with the spirit of the Second Vatican Council.

“We strongly condemn the ousting of Archbishop Kariyil and the transfer of prelates who stood with us,” the resolution says.

It also condemns the appointment of priests in key positions, who acted against the tradition and value of the Church.

The faithful would not cooperate with the archdiocese if they are kept away from daily administrative matters, the resolution warns.

It also expresses concern that the archdiocese is not heeding Pope Francis’ directive that bishops must walk with the faithful.

The two-hour convention and rally around the stadium saw the faithful holding up placards extending support to Archbishop Kariyil and against the unification of the Mass.

The convention was organized by various organizations in the archdiocese.

The dispute over liturgy in the Syro-Malabar Church seems far from over.

On August 6, the Syro-Malabar Curia issued a seven-page letter that accused Archbishop Kariyil of “challenging the authority of the Church” and “disobeying the Pope’s clear instructions” on implementing the unified Mass.

The “explanatory note” from the curia was in response to Archbishop Kariyil’s six-page letter released August 3 that talked about how he acted in the interests of the archdiocese and the faithful despite “continued pressure from the higher-ups.”

The curia has accused Archbishop Kariyil of twisting a special dispensation — given by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation of Oriental Churches — for certain “special cases” and issuing a circular applying the same to the archdiocese as a whole.

The liturgical dispute took a new turn July 26 when Archbishop Kariyil ’s tendered his resignation to Apostolic Nuncio to India Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli at the residence of the Ernakulam archbishop.

The New Delhi-based nuncio had flown down to Kochi to demand Archbishop Kariyil’s immediate resignation.

The archbishop, according to Church sources, was summoned to nunciature on July 19 and was asked to tender his resignation the following day by Archbishop Girelli.

Archbishop Kariyil, however, sought time on the plea that he wanted to inform Pope Francis that no reason was cited for demanding his resignation.

On July 30 Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur as the apostolic administrator of Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese.

Church observers view Archbishop Kariyil’s resignation as a fall out of his inability to convince the priests and laity in the archdiocese to follow the uniform mode of celebrating Mass as mandated by the synod of the Syro-Malabar Church.

The Syro-Malabar Church in August 2021 decided to implement a uniform Mass in all its 35 dioceses in India and overseas in a bid to find a permanent solution to the liturgical dispute and foster unity.

The dispute over the Eucharistic liturgy is decades old. The Synod of Bishops in 1999 ruled that the priest “will face the congregation until the Eucharistic prayer, and then again from communion to the end of the Mass. From Eucharistic prayers until Communion, the priest will face the altar.”

The synod’s formula, seen as a compromise requires priests to face the congregation during the start and concluding parts of the Mass but face the altar during the Eucharistic prayer.

Barring the archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, all Syro-Malabar dioceses implemented the synod decision from November 2021.

Archbishop Kariyil, however, could not implement the synod Mass in the wake of opposition from the priests and laity in the archdiocese.

More than 90 percent of the priests and laity in the archdiocese favored the traditional Mass and Archbishop Kariyil supported it as he understood the sentiments of the people.