By Verghese V Joseph.
The Holy Father reached out to the faithful in the Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly on Thursday, expressing disappointment over the ongoing disagreement over the celebration of a uniform holy mass in Kerala, the southern state of India.
For several decades, dioceses under the Syro-Malabar Church have been following different modes of holy mass offering. While a section of priests offers mass facing the people, another does so facing the altar. In certain other dioceses, the church follows a mix of both.
Also read: Ernakulam: Syro-Malabar Archdiocese’s ‘To Face or Not’ Dilemma: That is the Question
Disappointed by the continued dispute over the conduct of a uniform holy mass, Pope Francis in a video message called on the people to conform to the decisions of the Holy Synod. The pontiff said, “I am close to you! I have been following you for years, I know the faith and apostolic commitment of the beloved Syro-Malabar Church, which is a source of joy and pride for the Universal Church, and this is why my heart is sad today as I speak to you.”
“Your Synod, after long and tiring work, has found an agreement on the way of celebrating the Holy Qurbana. Charity and love for communion pushed its members to take this step, even if some of them do not consider this form of celebration ideal. These are the sacrifices that communion requires! But the Church is communion. If there is no communion, there is no Church. It’s a cult,” he cautioned.
The Pope urged, “I know that for years some, who should be examples and true teachers of communion, especially priests, have been pushing you to disobey and oppose the decisions of the Synod. Brothers and sisters, don’t follow them! Discussion, when it is not calm, generates violence. And there has been and is violence among you, especially against those who want to remain in communion and celebrate as your Church has established.”
The Holy Father stated, “I too have urged you several times to be docile to your Church. How can it be Eucharist if communion is broken, if there is disrespect for the Blessed Sacrament, amidst fights and brawls? I know that there are reasons for opposition that have nothing to do with the celebration of the Eucharist nor with the Liturgy. They are worldly reasons. They don’t come from the Holy Spirit. If they don’t come from the Holy Spirit, they come from elsewhere.”
The pontiff explained, “For this reason I have carefully and timely studied the reasons that have been put forward for years to convince you. I have already written to you several times in the past, but I know that not everyone has read my letters. Now I have decided to address you, the holy faithful people of God, the clergy, the men and women religious and above all to you, dear lay faithful, who have so much faith in the Lord and who love the Church. And I do it in this somewhat unusual way, so that no one will have any more doubts about what the Pope thinks.”
“In the name of the Lord, for the spiritual good of your Church, of our Church, I ask you to heal this rupture. It is your Church, it is our Church. Restore communion, remain in the Catholic Church! And you, priests, remember your ordination and the commitments you have undertaken. Do not separate yourself from the path of your Church, but walk with the Synod, your Bishops, the Major Archbishop. You agree to put into practice what your Synod has established,” he encouraged.
The pope mentioned, “I have sent you one of my delegates in the person of Archbishop Cyril Vasil. He came among you and he too, in my name, asked you to put an end to the struggle, to put an end to the opposition and, sometimes, to the violence – it exists! Don’t you see that in this way the Church is blocked and many good initiatives can no longer be carried out at the service of the holy people of God, at the service of the sanctification of the people of God?”
The Pope exhorted the people to ensure that for Christmas 2023, “your archdiocese agrees, humbly and faithfully, to catch up with the rest of your Church, respecting all the indications of your Synod. Please be careful! Be careful that the devil does not lead you to turn into a sect. You are churches, do not become sects. Do not force the competent ecclesiastical authority to take note that you have left the Church, because you are no longer in communion with your Pastors and with the Successor of the Apostle Peter, called to confirm all brothers and sisters in the faith and to preserve them in the unity of Church. With great pain, then, the relevant sanctions will have to be taken. I don’t want to come to that,” he cautioned.
For next Christmas, the Holy Father advised, “Therefore, in the Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly as in the entire Syro-Malabar Church, let the Qurbana be celebrated in communion, following the indications of the Synod. Remember your Major Archbishop in the Liturgy and pray for him. This has always been an important sign that you recognize yourselves in the unity of the Church. Then it will be Christmas for all your people, for everyone.”
The Pope counseled, “Please don’t continue to hurt the body of Christ! Don’t separate yourself from it anymore! And even if there have been wrongs against you, forgive them generously. May the Eucharist be the model of your unity. Do not shatter the Body of Christ which is the Church, so as not to eat and drink your condemnation (see 1Cor 11,29). May the Lord bless you and may the Holy Spirit enlighten you. And please don’t forget to pray for me. Thank you!”
The Syro-Malabar Church is the second largest of the Eastern churches in union with Rome, numbering some 4.25 million faithful. The Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly is the primatial see of the Syro-Malabar Church and home of the Major Archbishop.
Frankly, the Pope’s message – whether video or written – is nothing new per se. It has already been communicated to the people more than once in the past, insisting on the celebration of the Qurbana facing the Altar as decided upon by the Syro-Malabar Church Synod. And that is precisely what has been the crux of the issue.
Evidently, a large number of Syro-Malabar clergy are in favour of the Synod decision. However, if facing the Altar rather than the Congregation is believably the correct form of a supposedly participative Eucharistic celebration, why do they so freely celebrate Mass in the Latin Rite, given the fact that the entire Eucharistic Celebration in the Latin Rite has the Celebrant facing the Congregation? That’s like having your cake and eating it too, surely?
Given the circumstances, the threat of those not heeding the Synod’s decision falling out of the fold of the Catholic Church is not going to wash with those concerned.
Strangely, the Church makes concessions for Special Prelatures to continue having its married clergy converted from the Anglican Communion to celebrate Mass in the Catholic Church as married clergy. The Church is also discussing women deacons besides allowing Ordained Deacons to wear bandanas and ear-studs and LGBTQ weirdos to be given certain preferences. But it finds it difficult to allow a certain diocese or eparchate to permit the celebration of the Mass in both of two ways, i.e., facing the Altar and facing the Congregation. NOT DONE!!