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A possible schism has been looming as the result of a liturgical dispute in the Syro-Malabar Church, a rite of the Catholic Church in India with more than 30 dioceses and its own ancient liturgical tradition. Now, the Church’s head, Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, and the Synod (the Church’s assembly) have reached a compromise with the dissidents.
"The dispute over the liturgy has been temporarily resolved," Fr. Kuriakose Mundadan, secretary of the presbyteral council of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, told AsiaNews.
The origin of the dispute
The disagreement is rooted in the Second Vatican Council’s call for Eastern Churches to return to forms closer to their ancient traditions, rolling back centuries-old adaptations that brought them closer to the Latin Rite.
This Latinization had included the priests celebrating Mass facing the faithful throughout the entire liturgy. The restoration of the older traditions included having the priest face the altar with his back to the people.
In the face of resistance to this change, mainly in the eparchy (the equivalent of a diocese) of Ernakulam-Angamaly, the Syro-Malabar Synod voted in 1999 to adopt liturgical rubrics that have the presider facing the congregation during part of the liturgy and facing the altar with his back to the people during another part.
However, many of the priests and faithful of Ernakulam-Angamaly continue to reject what is often called the “unified Mass.”
The conflict became grave in recent years, especially at Christmas of 2023. The Pope warned recalcitrant clergy that those who refused to celebrate using the Synod-approved liturgy on December 25, 2023, would be excommunicated.
"You are obedient, and where obedience is present, there is the Church. Where there is disobedience, there is schism," declared the Pope.
Reportedly, the priests obeyed on that date, but did not all agree to continue celebrating the unified Mass afterwards. Hence, the crisis continued.
A compromise
Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil issued an ultimatum for July 3, 2024, demanding compliance with the Synod’s liturgical decisions. Just on time — July 1 — the Synod reached a compromise.
As a result, every church, starting on the target date of the ultimatum, must “celebrate a single Mass in the synodal form every Sunday and on feast days, so that the parishes could continue to celebrate the Holy Qurban Mass addressing the people on all other days. The senior archbishop also agreed that any further changes would be made only after consultation with the canonical bodies of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly,” the priest explained to Asia News, an agency promoted by the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions.
The agreement also frees up the priestly ordination of eight deacons in the eparchy, on hold until now due to the dispute. It also makes concessions for priests facing “protests or clashes” or civil lawsuits over the change.
The New Indian Express reported that 10% of parishes have already implemented this agreement, although some have scheduled the one obligatory unified Mass in the least popular Mass times.
Although the truce has been described as “temporary,” it’s not immediately clear what the path forward will be in terms of changes to the agreement or further demands.
