This story is from June 17, 2024

Attempt to implement uniform holy mass in churches triggers protests, clashes in Kerala

Attempt to implement uniform holy mass in churches triggers protests, clashes in Kerala
KOCHI: An attempt to implement uniform holy mass, prescribed by the Synod of the Syro Malabar Church in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese in Kerala, led to clashes on Sunday between faithful.
Police had to intervene to maintain law and order following the stand-off.
The latest circular of the Church, which warns priests that they would be ipso facto out of the Catholic communion if they conduct any mass other than the synodal form after July 3, was supposed to be read out in churches on Sunday.
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However, the circular was not read out in majority of the churches in the archdiocese, and in churches like the Edappally St George Church, the faithful booed and jeered at a group which demanded the unification.
At Udayamperoor synodal church, some of the laity (lay people, as distinct from the clergy) members entered into an argument over the circular even as the mass progressed. Churchgoers pushed and shoved at each other over the issue.
Meanwhile, Almaaya Munnettam, the laity group coordinating the resistance to the synodal mass in the archdiocese, said that churches in the archdiocese have completely rejected the circular issued by Syro-Malabar Church major archbishop Mar Raphael Thattil and Mar Bosco Puthur. The group said in a statement that it was not read out in any of the 321 churches in the Ernakulam archdiocese.

Laity activists protested by burning the circular in front of most churches. In many churches, the circular was torn and deposited in waste bins. At Udayamperoor Kochupally, the circular was thrown into the backwaters as a unique form of protest.
"Today's protest demonstrates that believers in all parishes are prepared to resist any move to impose any agenda without considering the stance of the Ernakulam archdiocese or attempting to resolve the issue," said Shaiju Antony and Riju Kanjookkaran of Almaaya Munnettam.
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