By Jose Kavi
New Delhi, July 31, 2023: Pope Francis on July 31 appointed Jesuit Archbishop Cyril Vasil, former secretary of the Office for Eastern Churches and presiding officer of the Greek Catholic diocese of Kosice in Slovakia, as the pontifical delegate for the Syro-Malabar Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly in Kerala, southern India.
Pope Francis’s special representative is asked to study the crisis in the archdiocese and propose a solution in connection with the implementation of the uniform method of offering Mass that a section of its priests and faithful have opposed, leading to the closure of St Mary’s Basilica, the main church.
Meanwhile, the laity front of the archdiocese that leads the protests says Archbishop Vasil’s appointment is improper and the Ernakulam archdiocesan forum sounds sceptical about the prelate’s impartiality.
A statement from laity front convenor Jamie Augustin and spokesperson Riju Kanjukaran accused Archbishop Vasil of leading the “whitewashing” of Cardinal George Alencherry’s land scam and the expulsion of Ernakulam archdiocese’s two auxiliary bishops from the bishop’s house without the knowledge of the Vatican or the Pope.
It further says the faithful and priests of Ernakulam archdiocese view with great concern that the papal delegate had studied in Rome with Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur, the archdiocese’s current apostolic administrator.
“The Archdiocese Committee says the appointment shows that neither the Vatican nor the Syro-Malabar Synod wants to make an honest and impartial solution to the problem,” the statement adds.
A press statement from the Syro-Malabar synod secretariat says the proposal for a pontifical delegate was first mooted at the May 4 meeting of the Syro-Malabar Church’s Permanent Synod in the Vatican with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State, and Cardinal-designate Claudio Gugerotti, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.
On signal from the Vatican that the Pope would consider the proposal, the Syro-Malabar Synod convened an urgent meeting in June and decided in favor of the apostolic delegate.
The statement says Archbishop Vasil would arrive in Ernakulam (Kochi) on August 4, accompanied by Jesuit Father Sunny Kokkaravalayil, professor of Canon Law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome would accompany the delegate.
The archdiocese will continue to be administered by Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur, the apostolic administrator. The papal delegate will act as the Pope’s special representative, clarifies the statement issued by Father Abraham Kavilpurayadathil, the chancellor.
Archbishop Vasil was born in 1965 at Kosice, Slovakia. He completed his seminary training and became a priest in 1987. He has doctorate in ecclesiastical law and served first as a teacher and later as rector at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. In 2009, he was appointed the secretary of the Vatican Office for the Eastern Churches and was consecrated bishop with the title of archbishop.
He was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Kosice in 2020. He was appointed the second bishop of the diocese a yar later.
In 2011, Archbishop Vasil attended the funeral services of Major Archbishop Varkey Vithayathil as a representative of the Pope. In January 2018, he attended the inauguration of the eparchy of Shamshabad.
Looking at the development from a different point of view, Jesuit Father Stanislaus Alla, who teaches at the Delhi-based Vidyajyoti Theological Institute, says that it is important to understand the purpose and focus of the visit as defined by the Vatican.
Both Archbishop Vasil and Father Kokkaravalayil, whom Father Stanislaus knows, says that they are coming to listen to various constituencies. Obviously, both have their own earlier knowledge and assessment of the matter but now they are coming precisely with a goal.
Usually, the visitators come with openness and strive to be objective, and not confined by what they already know. The purpose of their visit is to be willing to listen to, to gain fresh knowledge and insights into the concern, and be willing to discern together to find new ways of resolving.
Instead of being doubtful, it is helpful to look forward to this visit with this enthusiasm and hope, trusting that the Lord of Surprises can work wonders through our vulnerabilities, Father Alla says.