Bishops protest against expulsion of priests over unified mass decision in Syro-Malabar Church

KOCHI: Five bishops have written a letter to Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil protesting against the announcement that priests who do not offer unified mass will be expelled from the Syro Malabar Church. Ephraim Narikkulam (Chaantha Diocese), Jose Chittuparampil (Rajkot), Kuriakos Bharanikulangara (Faridabad), Sebastian Edayantrath (Mandya) and Auxiliary Bishop Jose Puthanveettil (Faridabad) expressed their disagreement.

The decision to expel priests is unheard of in the Church and against the Vatican documents. A circular that will adversely affect the Church for a long time cannot be accepted. It should be clarified whether the Vatican gave permission to issue the circular. Reforms can be implemented only after the priests and church members are trusted.

The decision to offer a unified mass is ready to be implemented. In his meeting with Raphael Attil, Pope Francis suggested that the crisis over the name of the Eucharist should be resolved in the Synod itself. The circular was issued unilaterally without asking the opinion of the Synod.

A circular prepared to be released after the Synod should clarify who masterminded the leaked and arbitrary decision. In the letter, the bishops say that the unity of the Church should not be ignored and the unity of the Church should not be destroyed.

The Synod meeting to take a final decision on the unified Mass concluded on Wednesday, but the resolution of the issue is ongoing. It is indicated that the Synod has reached the position of allowing the Mass to continue. The synod proposed that a unified mass be offered on Sundays in all parish churches. The priests have not fully accepted this. As no consensus was reached, the decisions were not issued as circulars even after the end of the synod.