By Jose Kavi
New Delhi, June 16, 2023: The Syro-Malabar Synod has decided to open St Mary’s Basilica in Ernakulam, Kerala, closed for more than six months because of a controversy over the method of offering Mass.
The decision was announced June 16 at the end of the synod’s weeklong emergency meeting convened under the Vatican direction.
One of the tasks assigned to the synod was to resolve the stalemate over the closed St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica of the archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly.
However, the synod decision to offer Mass in the basilica only in the uniform method has irked most priests and laity of the archdiocese.
The archdiocese’s Almaya Munnettam (laity front) says it sees no need to open the basilica if the Mass were to be celebrated in the synod method. It termed the synod’s emergency meeting as the “biggest failure of the century” since it did not bother to listen to the dissenting priests and laity of the archdiocese.
Earlier, a press release from the Church public relations officer, Vincentian Father Antony Vadkekara, said the agreement to open the basilica was reached June 14 at a discussion between the synod approved bishops’ committee and the representatives of the basilica.
The synod officially approved the decision to open the basilica a day later.
The press note says the synod has appealed to all concerned to help reopen as soon as possible the archdiocese’s main church.
“Only the method of Holy Communion decided by the Synod and approved by the Holy See is permitted in the Basilica. Until this is possible there will be no Holy Eucharist in the Basilica,” asserts the press release.
In the uniform method synod promoted by the synod, the priest faces the congregation in the beginning and end of the Mass. At other times, he faces the altar.
The archdiocese of Ernakulam has celebrated Mass with the priest facing the congregation for nearly five decades.
Most priests and lay people in the archdiocese rejected the uniform method the synod imposed in August 2021. After initial resistance, the Church’s all 35 dioceses, except Ernakulam-Angamaly, began celebrating the synod-approved Mass from November that year.
The synod says the decisions of the Vatican and the civil courts apply to all. “Otherwise, the basilica will be closed again,” it says.
However, the synod says the basilica will be open to all sacraments, except the Mass. It also decided to hand over the basilica key to basilica administrator vicar to make necessary arrangements.
The synod also agreed that the basilica administrator will continue until further notice as the court proceedings continue.
On the reopening day of the basilica, vicar general Father Varghese Pottakkal will bless the basilica and its surroundings. The vicar general will also convene a parish council meeting to inform the synod decision and seek its cooperation. However, the parish council’s approval is not required to carry out the synod decisions, the press release asserts.
The June 12-16 synod meet at Mount St. Thomas, the Oriental Church’s headquarters in Kakkanad, a suburb of Kochi. It also demanded the apostolic administrator take steps according to canon law against priests, religious or laity who violate the synod decisions.
The priests and laity of the archdiocese had boycotted the Vatican-appointed administrator Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, who insists on the uniform method.
The laity front now wants the administration of the archdiocese to be handed over to the apostolic nuncio in New Delhi.
It says the basilica has remained closed for 202 days only because of the attempt to impose the synod Mass on its parishioners. No bishop should dream of offering Mass in the uniform method even if the basilica is closed for another 100 days, the front’s press release says.
Laity front convener Riju Kanjookaren says the Catholics of the archdiocese would sacrifice their lives but allow the synod Mass.
The front organized a protest rally in front of the cathedral deploring what it says was the arrogance of the synod and its circular issued after the meeting.