Holy Mass row: Priests’ body writes to Vatican, vouches for Mass facing people

PTI, Aug 23, 2023, 8:20 AM IST

Representative image (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Kochi: A body of priests in the crisis-hit Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church informed the Vatican on Tuesday that they vouch for the Holy Mass facing the people since it is borne out of their personal conviction.

The Presbyteral Council of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese shot off a letter to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, making its stand clear on the matter.

This comes two days after the priests and the laity of the archdiocese strongly resisted the Vatican’s order to celebrate Holy Mass in a uniform manner, as prescribed by the synod of the Syro-Malabar Church.

The priests also stepped up their attack on Pontifical Delegate Archbishop Cyril Vasil, appointed to resolve the crisis in the archdiocese, accusing him of acting like an “erstwhile inquisitor of the Middle Ages”.

Coming down heavily on Archbishop Vasil, the council alleged that the papal delegate is trying to present the protesting priests as “schismatic” before the public.

The presbyteral council — a group of priests chosen to aid the bishop in the governance of the diocese — also complained to the Vatican about the style of Archbishop Vasil’s functioning.

In its letter, Presbyteral Council of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese Secretary Fr Kuriakose Mundadan alleged that the reason for the escalation of the crisis is due to rigidity in the execution of the mandate of the pontifical delegate.

Last week, Archbishop Vasil warned of canonical punishment for priests who do not follow the uniform Holy Mass, as per the Syro-Malabar Church synod’s direction.

In its letter, the presbyteral council made it clear that the priests of the archdiocese vouch for the Holy Mass facing the people since it is borne out of their personal conviction.

The council referred to incidents that occurred in the majority of parishes under the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese on August 20 when priests refused to celebrate the uniform Holy Mass, as prescribed by the synod.

Archbishop Vasil had ordered the implementation of the synodal decision on August 20 in all parishes under the archdiocese.

“Notwithstanding the severe warning of canonical measures in the letter of Archbishop Vasil dated August 17, 2023, and the threats he issued through the media, should the priests celebrate Mass facing the people on August 20, 2023, 99 per cent of priests opted to celebrate facing the people without any law and order issues in the parishes,” the letter stated.

The synod of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church introduced the uniform way of celebrating Holy Mass in August 2021.

According to it, priests celebrating Holy Mass must face the faithful only in the first and last parts of the liturgical service and turn towards the altar for the rest of the Mass.

While all other dioceses under the Syro-Malabar Church have adopted the instruction approved by the synod, the majority of priests of the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, supported by their laity, opposed it. They said they cannot not depart from the tradition by which the priest faces the faithful throughout the Mass.

Referring to the incidents that occurred in parishes under the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese on Sunday, the council said this also proves that the parishioners of the majority of the parishes have rallied together for the Mass facing the people.

“Unfortunately, two parishes were closed as the parishioners denied consent to the priests of these parishes to celebrate synodal Mass. Against the background of the issue, one can only view this development as a deep personal conviction of (the) priests and faithful rather than disobedience. This also demonstrates the fact that even if (the) priests decide to celebrate 50:50 Mass, the faithful will resist it in their parishes,” the letter stated.

In a strongly-worded attack against Archbishop Vasil, the council said, “In fact, we are infinitely confused regarding the nature of his mandate.”

“Regardless of his mandate, the general feeling in the society is that he has assumed the role of an erstwhile inquisitor of the Middle Ages when he resorts to certain actions to execute his mandate,” it alleged in the letter.

The council accused Archbishop Vasil of unilaterally sending letters to priests, ordering them to sign those in the shortest amount of time possible.

Referring to Archbishop Vasil’s August 17 letter to the priests of the archdiocese, the council alleged that “it goes without saying that he has weaponised the Holy Mass to execute his mandate”.

“Rather than assuming an impartial approach in studying and evaluating the issue at hand and examining the reasons for the failure of implementation of 50:50 Mass in the archdiocese, Archbishop Vasil started to implement this synod formula Mass forcefully using means that have gone a great distance that damages the reputation of the Catholic Church,” the council alleged.

It further said that as long as Archbishop Vasil and his delegation continue to operate in any form in Kerala, “the Holy Father’s (the Pope) reputation is at risk because of the un-Catholic modus operandi of Archbishop Vasil while carrying out his mandate”.

“Posters have already surfaced on social media depicting Papal Delegate Archbishop Vasil as an inquisitor. Such a sequence of events is contributing to an irreparable damage to the Holy Father’s image”, the council said and sought the Vatican’s urgent intervention to correct the mandate and means employed by the pontifical delegate.

The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is one of the 22 Eastern Oriental Churches in full communion with the Pope, and the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese is a key archeparchy under it.

Archbishop Vasil was appointed by the Vatican to address and resolve the ongoing conflict over the unified Mass in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, where discontent has been brewing for some time among a significant section of priests, nuns and laity over the synodal decision to “impose” uniformity in celebrating Holy Mass in churches under its control.