Yesterday, on the feast of St. Thomas, a “temporary” agreement came into effect on the deadline that had been set as an ultimatum by the Major Archbishop. On Sundays and holy days, at least one liturgy must be celebrated according to the unified rite decided by the Synod. However, the modality according to which the celebrant faces the people throughout the rite was also allowed to be maintained, as requested by the clergy and laity of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly.
Kochi () – Coinciding with the ultimatum given by Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil for July 3, the feast of the Apostle Thomas, the Syro-Malabar Church has finally reached a compromise on the issue of rejecting the “unified” liturgy that has been in place for three years in the archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly. On the orders of the Synod, a select committee drew up an agreement on July 1 that made it possible to overcome the risk of schism that was looming over this very ancient Eastern Catholic Church due to the refusal of one of the 36 dioceses to adhere to the new method of celebrating the Holy Qurbana, the Eucharistic rite, according to which the celebrant must once again turn towards the altar, and not towards the faithful, at the moment of consecration. The agreement is in function of communion, as Pope Francis has indicated several times in his interventions on the subject.
“The conflict over the liturgy has been temporarily resolved,” Father Kuriakose Mundadan, secretary of the Presbyteral Council of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, told . “The agreement reached by representatives of priests and lay people was discussed at length by a synodal group with Archbishop Joseph Plampani, apostolic administrator of Bosco Puthur, and Bishop of the Curia Sebastian Vaniapurackal. The agreement – explains the prelate – was conditional on each parish church in the archdiocese, from July 3, obligatorily celebrating a single Mass in the synodal form on all Sundays and feast days, and parishes could continue to celebrate Holy Qurbana addressing the people on all other days. The major archbishop also agreed that any further changes would be made only after consulting the canonical bodies of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly.”
The agreement also provides that the priestly ordination of the eight deacons of the archdiocese, which was pending until now, should take place as soon as possible. In parishes where protests or clashes occur due to the form of celebration, the parish priest has the power not to celebrate according to the synodal rite, but must inform the apostolic administrator of the archdiocese. The same applies to parishes where civil lawsuits have been filed on the issue. “Yesterday many parishes of the archdiocese celebrated a Eucharistic liturgy in synodal form,” reports Fr. Mundadan, “although in many cases the participants were less numerous. The first part of the agreement has therefore been respected, now the other points must be implemented in the coming days.”
The Lay Movement for Transparency – one of the strongest voices in opposition to the synodal rite – accepted the terms of the agreement, though it conditioned its support on the methods of implementation. A key decision was not to involve the police or use force to enforce the order to celebrate according to the unified rite. However, canon law could be invoked against priests who openly defy the conciliation measures. “Given the developments – the Lay Movement for Transparency says in a note – it is hoped that peace will prevail in the archdiocese. But if the synod were to make any move that violates the conciliation formula, we will withdraw from the agreement.”
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