KERALA (UCAN): Teetering on the verge of a split, the Eastern-rite Syro-Malabar Church in Kerala, India, settled its liturgical dispute following concessions from both parties, said a bishop who attended the synod meeting that achieved the breakthrough on July 19.
“Subject to the Vatican’s approval, the dispute is settled. The breakthrough came after both sides agreed to accommodate each other. The official announcement will be made in a day or two,” said the bishop who asked not to be named.
The five-decade-long dispute intensified three years ago after most priests and Catholics in the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly refused to accept the rubrics of a Mass approved by the Synod of Bishops.
The synod required celebrants to face the altar during the Eucharistic prayer. Some priests and laity in the archdiocese refused and wanted to continue with the celebrant facing the people throughout the Mass.
“The priests in Ernakulam-Angamaly are now allowed to continue with their traditional Mass. However, they will also have to celebrate one synod-approved uniform mode of Mass on all Sundays in their parishes,” said the bishop, who did not want to be named.
Subject to the Vatican’s approval, the dispute is settled. The breakthrough came after both sides agreed to accommodate each other. The official announcement will be made in a day or two
“Those who go against this instruction will be disciplined as per the canon law,” he said on June 20.
“We are relieved as our Church is united now,” the bishop said, adding, “Unity of the Church cannot be compromised with a dispute over a rubric or body language of the priest during the Mass.”
A leader of the contentious Archdiocesan Movement for Transparency [AMT], a group of priests, religious and laity, also confirmed that the bishops agreed to allow them to continue their Mass based on conditions.
“Our demand is accepted. We are happy,” said the leader, who did not want to be named because an official announcement of the pact has not yet been made.
The Church faced the threat of schism after a circular, jointly issued early this month by its head, Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, and archdiocesan apostolic administrator, Bishop Bosco Puthur, threatened to excommunicate priests who refused to accept the synod-approved Mass
The bishop said the synod tried to reach a consensus and simultaneously did backdoor discussions with the archdiocesan priests and lay leaders to find an amicable solution.
The lay leader said they suggested to the bishops that the archdiocesan priests celebrate “one Synod-approved Mass on Sundays in every parish, where at least 25 per cent of the parishioners want it.”
“But the bishops wanted to have one Synod Mass in every parish on all Sundays as it was difficult to assess the percentage. We agreed to it, and finally, the settlement was reached,” he said on June 19.
The Church faced the threat of schism after a circular, jointly issued early this month by its head, Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, and archdiocesan apostolic administrator, Bishop Bosco Puthur, threatened to excommunicate priests who refused to accept the synod-approved Mass.
The June 9 circular ordered priests to follow synod-approved Mass from July 3 and read out the circular in their parish churches on June 16. It was issued before a June 14 synod, which was convened to discuss a way out of the dispute [Sunday Examiner, June 16].
The Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, with more than half a million Catholics, is the see of Major Archbishop Thattil. The Syro-Malabar Church has five million Catholics worldwide.
Disagreements emerged in the 1980s when the Church began reviving its liturgy. Some groups wanted to revive its ancient liturgy, while others tried to revise it according to modern standards.
The Synod of Bishops in 1999 approved a uniform mode of Mass as a settlement formula, asking the priests to face the altar during the Eucharistic prayer and the congregation for the rest of the time.
