Liturgical conflict resurfaces in troubled Indian Syro-Malabar archdiocese

Left: Protesters burn a bishops’ circular in front of St. Mary’s Basilica, the cathedral of Ernakulam Archdicoese in India. Right: An elderly woman puts a burning circular into a bin in front of Vazhakkala, India, church. / Credit: Anto Akkara

Kochi, India, Nov 15, 2024 / 12:15 pm (CNA).

This month’s delayed priestly ordination of eight deacons of the Ernakulam Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church (SMC) in India has highlighted continuing divisions in the troubled archdiocese, which remains crippled by a bitter liturgical feud that erupted three years ago.

The ordination ceremony — which was delayed from Christmas 2023 because of the liturgical dispute — took place at the archdiocese’s minor seminary on Nov. 4, with dozens of police deployed outside. And while more than 200 archdiocesan priests were in attendance, the majority of them boycotted the Mass led by Bishop Bosco Puthur, the administrator of the archdiocese, because of the liturgy he utilized. 

Alongside of this liturgical dispute, many local clergy and laity have been further incensed over Puthur’s recent appointment of Father Joshy Puthuva as chancellor of the archdiocese. Puthuva has 15 criminal cases pending against him stemming from his earlier term as the archdiocesan financial officer.

The Syro-Malabar Church is one of three Indian Churches in full communion with Rome, alongside the local Latin Catholic Church and the Syro-Malankara Church. It has an estimated 5 million members, including more than 600,000 in the Archdiocese of Ernakulam.

In August 2021, the SMC’s Synod of Bishops mandated that priests saying Mass must turn toward the altar after the offertory prayer, a decision that triggered the liturgical dispute. Although other SMC dioceses accepted the decision, the overwhelming majority of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam’s 460 priests have refused to follow the instruction, continuing instead to celebrate Mass facing the people throughout, as practiced in the archdiocese since the Second Vatican Council.

Puthur was appointed by the Vatican as apostolic administrator of the archdiocese following the December 2023 retirement resignation of Administrator Archbishop Andrews Thazhath along with Cardinal George Alencherry, the titular head of the Syro-Malabar Church, who was facing strong opposition as a result of the liturgical controversy. 

The bitter feud seemed to have been settled after the synod introduced a compromise formula in July, requiring archdiocesan parishes to celebrate at least one synodal Mass on Sundays and other obligatory days but allowing other Masses to continue with the liturgy of always facing the people. The ordinations of the eight deacons, which had been withheld over their initial refusal to sign a declaration that they would celebrate the synodal Mass, were authorized after they signed the declaration following the introduction of the new formula. 

But the priests’ boycott of the ordination’s synodal Mass indicated liturgical peace has not been achieved.

Letter triggers more controversy

On Oct. 30, Puthur released an uncompromising letter warning of disciplinary action if the mandatory weekly synodal Mass is not held as a scheduled parish Mass rather than merely as an addition. It also banned any announcements or statements against official Church decisions during Mass, in parish-level meetings, or on social media, as well as banning any association with groups that rebel against the local Church’s authority. And it advised that “police help” will be employed to ensure the orderly administration in the archbishop’s house.

The bishop’s letter followed strong protests by both clergy and laypeople against the new curial appointments for vicar general, chancellor, and financial officer that were announced in mid-October. The protests are focused primarily against the appointment of Puthuva, who was removed as financial officer in 2017 because of his involvement in controversial land dealings under Alencherry that resulted in substantial financial losses for the archdiocese.

Puthuva did not respond to repeated requests from the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, for comment regarding the allegations against him.

Father Kuriakose Mundadan, secretary of the archdiocesan presbyteral council, told the Register: “The peace that was building up in the archdiocese after July 3 has been spoiled with the reappointment of Father Puthuva, who had been removed from office in 2017 on demand from the priests’ council for his role in the land scam.”

“This is a deliberate attempt to provoke the priests and the laity to project us in [a] bad light. We will continue to oppose such unjust moves,” said Mundadan, who led a delegation of a dozen senior priests who met with Puthur after he did not respond to a clergy petition demanding the revocation of the new curial appointments.

Police posted at the archbishop’s residence initially refused to allow the delegation to meet with the bishop, but after communicating with him, they relented. 

The Oct. 28 meeting did not go well, according to Mundadan.

“We were shocked when three police officials sat in the room with us when we raised the serious issue of the unacceptable new curia and other concerns,” he said.

“Bishop Bosco did not make any comments, and his response was the tough circular that came out two days later. That is why the priests decided not to read it in the parishes.”

Lay protests

Strong opposition was also on display among the lay faithful who gathered at St. Joseph’s Parish in the Vazhakkala neighborhood of Kochi on Nov. 3 after the 6:30 a.m. Sunday Mass to witness the public burning of their bishop’s letter.

As several news channels recorded the protest, dozens of people, including elderly women, came forward, burning copies of the letter and placing them in the waste box located in front of the church. 

“We are not rebels. We want justice to prevail in the Church. A tainted priest cannot be involved in the administration of the Church,” parishioner Kuriakose Kalarickal, a trustee of the 640-family parish until he completed his term two months ago, told the Register.

“Did you find any objection from anyone here? That shows the mood in the parish,” Kalarickal said.

At the archdiocese’s St. Mary’s Basilica, two dozen other Catholics carried out a similar “burning of the circular” on the same day at a time announced to the media in advance.

“The circular [letter] was burnt in more than 200 parishes, and it was not read even in 10 of the over 320 parishes and stations in the archdiocese,” Riju Kanjookaran, spokesperson of the Almaya Munnetam (Laity Forward) group that issued a call for burning the letter, told the Register on Nov. 7.

“This solidarity of the laypeople with the protests shows their anger at what is happening in our archdiocese,” Kanjookaran added.

Defending the bishop

Father Jacob Palackapilly, the archdiocese’s new vicar general, pushed back against the criticism of the curial appointments. 

“The Church leadership is acting in line with the directions from the Holy See. The bishop is free to appoint the curia members,” he told the Register.

“Father Puthuva has not been convicted in any case. As long [as] he is not convicted, there cannot be a bar on his appointment to positions in the Church,” said Palackapilly, who is also the deputy secretary-general and spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Council of Kerala.

When asked for his reaction to threats from priests to boycott the curia and even withhold parish collections, Palackapilly replied: “Proper action will be taken to bring order and resolve the challenges.” 

Father Antony Vadakkekara, spokesperson of the Syro-Malabar Church, similarly supported Puthur when asked about Puthuva’s appointment.

“Under canon law, the appointment of officials is the prerogative of the bishop, and the entire diocese has to follow the directions of the bishop,” Vadakkekara said. 

M.P. George, chairman of Catholic Nazrani (Syrian Christian) Association, a group that supports the hierarchy’s stance on the liturgical dispute, told the Register strong action is needed to rein in the protests. 

“The Syro-Malabar Church leadership should act tough to deal with the rebellion in Ernakulam Archdiocese,” he said. “Otherwise, it will only get worse.”

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.