Members of the archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, who are demanding a continuation of the practice of the celebration of the Mass with the celebrant (priest) facing the congregation throughout the ceremonies should be continued, marched to the headquarters of the Syro-Malabar Church at St. Thomas Mount, Kakkanad on Sunday.
The protest was against a recent circular issued by the synod of bishops of the Syro-Malabar church that the celebration of the Mass should be uniform across the Syrian Catholic church with the celebrant facing the congress for one half and facing away from the congregation for the rest of the ceremonies.
Riju Kanjookkaran, speaking for Almaya Munnettam, a group of lay people, religious and priests calling for more transparency in church administration, said that the synod of bishops should not impose a uniform way of celebrating the Mass on the people. A statement issued by Almaya Munnettam said that the current practice of the celebrant facing the congregation throughout the Mass has been a practice in the archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly over the last 54 years.
The organisation also said that around a 1,000 people participated in the march to the headquarters of the Syro-Malabar church on Sunday.
In the meanwhile, a large number of priests representing the Syro-Malabar Church has appealed to the synod not to impose its decision to have the Mass celebration with the celebrant facing away from the people during one half of the ceremonies. The priests have declared that they would not accept a decision to impose the new synodal decision. The community of priests have said that the decision cannot be imposed without taking the opinion of the faithful and that the recent synodal decision would be a cause for disharmony in the parishes.
The synodal decision is that the new way of celebrating the Mass should come into effect on November 28, the first Sunday of Advent. However, the community of priests under the aegis of the Syrian Catholic Liturgical Forum has vehemently opposed the decision.
