Four bishops oppose ‘high-handedness’ of Syro-Malabar Church Synod

KOCHI: Even as a solution is to be arrived at regarding the implementation of the Uniform Mode of Holy Mass issue in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese, four bishops hailing from the archdiocese have expressed their reservations in a letter to the Syro-Malabar Major Archbishop Mar Raphael Thattil regarding the circular that was issued recently.

Syro Malabar Church issues ultimatum to dissenting priests: Follow unified holy mass or face expulsion
According to sources, the letter was made public by the bishops after it came to light that it was not presented before the other members of the Synod by the Major Archbishop. Meanwhile, Mar Thattil held further discussions with the vicars of the Forane Churches in Ernakulam Angamaly Archdiocese along with other stakeholders after the online Synod concluded on Wednesday night.

In the letter, they informed the Major Archbishop of their anxieties and concerns regarding the happenings in the Archdiocese, especially in the context of the circular issued by the latter and the Apostolic Administrator Mar Bosco Puthur.

They pointed out how they had been signatories to the pastoral letter that was issued by the Synod to the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly regarding the Uniform Mode of Holy Mass. “In all the dioceses under our respective jurisdiction, we do follow the uniform mode of celebration. We have always shown our allegiance to the Holy Father, to the Apostolic See and the Synod,” the bishops Mar Ephrem Nariculum, Mar Jose Chittooparambil, Mar Jose Puthenveettil, Mar Kuriakose Bharanikulangara and Mar Sebastian Adayanthrath wrote in the letter.

All these bishops are presently serving in the dioceses in Chanda, Rajkot, Faridabad and Mandya. They pointed out the dissent note that they had put up in 2021 regarding the revival of the 1999 Synodal decision on the Uniform Mode of celebration without making statutory consultation with the priests, the religious and the laity. They said that the Synod has somehow failed to be Synodal in its proper sense.

The Mar Thoma Nasrani Sangham (MTNS) has come out with a demand that all the 33 priests including the ones who refuse to adhere to the Uniform Mode of Holy Mass after July 3 should be excommunicated and new priests appointed on July 4 itself. They pointed out that the church leaders have the responsibility to ensure law and order is maintained in the churches by initiating action against those who unleashed violence and disrupted the reading of the circular. They have demanded the freezing of the bank accounts of the churches to ensure that the laity’s money is not misused for acts against the Syro Malabar Church.