Six months after the closure of St Mary’s Cathedral Basilica, there is no end to the standoff between the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocesan hierarchy and most of the parishioners and priests.
The latest in a series of recent incidents is a protest organized by people’s group Alamaya Munnettam in front of a prominent religious house near Kochi, where apostolic administrator Archbishop Andrews Thajath called a meeting of representatives of religious orders. Besides, untoward incidents took place at Mazhikulam Parish Church during the Mass on Sunday. Groups opposing the Synodal Mass and one in support have blamed each other for Sunday’s incident.
These events followed a visit by members of the Permanent Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church to Rome to meet the Vatican’s Secretary of State and the Prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches. Senior members of the Presbyteral Council of the Archdiocese, protesting the Synod’s decision in favor of a unified Mass, met the Apostolic Ambassador in Delhi. It is believed that the ongoing controversy regarding worship was raised prominently in the Rome and Delhi meetings.
A layman’s group plans to hold a prayer service on May 26 in front of St. Mary’s Cathedral, the main church of the archdiocese, in protest against the continued closure of the church. At the same time, it was claimed that there was a protest against Archbishop Andrews Thjath in front of the Religious House on Tuesday.
The group claimed that the head of the archdiocese should convene a meeting of leaders of religious orders at the home of the bishops or at the archdiocese pastoral center. The group alleged, “This is an attempt to impose an agenda on the archdiocese.” It also vowed to continue its boycott of the Apostolic Administrator’s public events.
Meanwhile, senior priest Antony Puthavelil said that false news is being spread by a group about the incidents at Muzhikulam Church. He distanced himself and Andrews Thjath from the events. He appealed to the devotees not to fall prey to false and baseless allegations.