Truce on Mass not fully acceptable, says Ernakulam laity movement

By Jose Kavi

Kochi, Sept 8, 2023: A truce in the acrimonious dispute over liturgy in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Syro-Malabar archdiocese is acceptable only with conditions, says the laity movement that has spearheaded the demand for traditional Mass.

The truce was apparently reached after the nine-member committee of bishops appointed by the Syro-Malabar Synod held several discussions with the representative of the dissidents in the archdiocese.

The latest meeting on September 7 was started from 10 am at the archbishop’s house and endorsed an agreement on the question of how to celebrate the Mass.

Bishop Bosco Puthur, the curia bishop and convener of the bishops’ committee, chaired the meeting.

The participants of the talks have reportedly said some sort of tentative agreement had been reached, although its details were not made public.

The agreement, which was sent to the Vatican for approval, is reportedly supported by the synod.

The laity group and priests opposed to the synod Mass have said they would not accept any change in the agreement.

Reports appearing in certain sections of the press say the agreement allows bishops of the archdiocese to celebrate Mass facing the congregation.

The dissidents have come down on their rigid stand to agree that the synod Mass can be offered at St. Mary’s Cathedral, the archdiocese’s main church, once a week, most probably as one of the Sunday Masses.

In the synod-prescribed 50:50 Mass, the celebrants face the people during the opening and closing and turn to the altar during the consecration prayers.

Another agreement is that minor seminaries in the archdiocese can celebrate the synod Mass once a month.

A hill-top pilgrim center, dedicated to Saint Thomas the Apostle, at Malayattoor can opt for the synod Mass if and when Catholics and priests from other dioceses arrive there.

The agreement also calls for changes in the archdiocese’s administration.

The dissidents have demanded the removal of Apostolic Administrator Archbishop Andrews Thazhath and basilica vicar Father Antony Poothavelil from their posts.

While the bishops’ committee held discussions with the dissidents, the laity movement accused Archbishop Thazhath of trying to sabotage the agreement between the bishops’ committee and their representatives.

The synod had appointed the bishops’ committee in its efforts to resolve the dispute. It was tasked to meet with dissident priests objecting to a new mode of celebrating the Mass.

Riju Kanjookkaran of Almaya Munnettam (laity movement) says they want Archbishop Antony Kariyil, who was unceremoniously removed as the apostolic administrator of the archdiocese, to be given the same post.

The apostolic nuncio, who had forced Archbishop Kariyil to resign, forbade him from entering the archdiocesan territory. He is reportedly living in neighboring Irinjalakuda diocese since then.

When Archbishop Thazhath, who replaced Archbishop Kariyiil, failed in enforcing the synod Mass in the archdiocese, the Pontifical Congregation for the Oriental Churches sent Jesuit Archbishop Cyril Vasil as Pope Francis’ delegate.

Archbishop Vasil’s decree that the synod Mass had to be implemented by August 20 in all parishes and institutions in the archdiocese was met with widespread resistance. Only six of the 328 parishes in the archdiocese complied, despite the delegate’s threat to excommunicate the defying priests.

The laity movement on September 7 stated that the latest agreement cannot be fully accepted. It wants their views incorporated in the agreement. The Archdiocesan Clerical Committee and the forane vicars on September 7 met with the representatives of laity movement and other organizations.

The movement has termed as commendable the four bishops of synod committee listening to them with an open mind. The movement applauded the clerical committee for insisting on the expulsion of Father Poothavelil from the discussions.

The laity movement rejected an earlier agreement the synod committee reached with the clerical representatives on August 25.

It insists that to offer synod Mass in churches, approval must be sought from the parish councils and the general assembly of parishioners.

It welcomes the synod committee’s willingness to continue the negotiation with the laity movement.

The movement has informed the bishops’ committee that until a solution is found it would strongly oppose synod Mass in churches and religious houses in the archdiocese.

It wants the synod committee to inform Archbishop Vasil that it protested his arrival at the basilica because of the presence of Father Poothavelil.