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New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Syro-Malabar Church row: Protestors blocking suspended priests held
KOCHI: Tensions flared on Thursday morning outside the Archbishop's House at Broadway, as the police arrested and removed protestors who attempted to block suspended priests of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese from attending a crucial meeting convened to address the ongoing Syro-Malabar unified Holy Mass dispute. The meeting, scheduled for 10 am, was called by Archbishop Joseph Pamplany, Vicar of the Major Archbishop for the Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly. However, by 9 am, a large crowd supporting unified mass had gathered outside the premises. They started shouting slogans declaring that priests who had been suspended for opposing the unified Mass system should not be allowed entry.
The Hindu
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Rebel priests hold meeting with Archbishop Pamplany
A group of rebel priests, opposed to the unified synod Mass in the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, met Archbishop Joseph Pamplany, the vicar of the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, here on Thursday (May 22, 2025), demanding that the archdiocesan curia be disbanded. Riju Kanjookkaran, spokesman of the rebel lay people's group, claimed that around 300 priests had initially met the Archbishop in the forenoon. The meeting was suspended as Mar Pamplany had to attend another programme, said Mr. Kanjookkaran. The discussions are expected to continue. According to sources in the rebel group, the priests who are opposed to the continuation of the archdiocesan curia and against the unified Mass are awaiting an assurance from Mar Pamplany on disbanding the curia. 'Around 30 of the rebel priests are camping in the Archbishop's House here,' the sources claimed. As the rebel priests went to meet Archbishop Pamplany, a group supporting the synod of bishops also arrived at the scene, raising apprehensions about a possible confrontation between the two groups. However, the day passed peacefully, with discussions taking place inside the Archbishop's House without any outside interference.
New Indian Express
22-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Kerala CM's backing for control of wildlife numbers stirs row
KOCHI: At a time when the state is witnessing a spike in wild animal attacks, which have claimed 26 lives this year, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's statement advocating controlled culling of wild pigs has ignited a debate on balancing human development with wildlife conservation. While the Church and farmers have welcomed the CM's suggestion on controlled culling, conservation activists are demanding a moratorium on any policy proposal involving wildlife hunting or population control unless preceded by rigorous scientific justification and full legal scrutiny. Animal rights activists are demanding steps to restore wildlife habitats by converting forest plantations into natural forest and raising barriers to stop wild animals from entering human habitations. Welcoming the CM's statement, Thalassery archbishop Joseph Pamplany said it vindicates the Church stand. 'Wild pigs, peacock and monkeys are proliferating at an alarming rate, and they have spread from forest fringes to the midlands. These animals are destroying crops and denying farmers' livelihood. So we have demanded that the government order controlled culling to limit their population. The population of elephants and tigers has increased threefold. We don't demand indiscriminate killing. But the government should control the population based on the carrying capacity of forests. Tigers and elephants should be tranquilised and shifted to other reserve forests. Elephant walls and trenches should be made to stop wild animals from entering human habitations,' he said. 'The forest department has been focusing on protection of wild animals, which has led to their proliferation. But the rise in the wild animal population has affected the lives and livelihoods of farmers. There should be a balance and we favour culling to control the wildlife population,' said Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC) deputy secretary general Fr Thomas Tharayil. 'We have been demanding allowing hunting to control the population of wild animals. Without putting the blame on the Union government, the state government should take the initiative to protect farmers. Section 11 (2) of the Wildlife Protection Act says killing wild animals in self-defence is not a crime. Considering this provision, the government should issue instruction to forest department officials not to harass farmers who kill wild animals in self-defence,' said Kerala Independent Farmers Association (KIFA) chairman Alex Ozhukayil.
Time of India
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Chaos erupts in Kerala as Syro-Malabar Church faces internal conflict ahead of Pope election
As the conclave of Catholic cardinals to elect a new pope was set to begin in Rome, ugly scenes were unfolding at a bishop's office in Kerala. Archbishop Joseph Pamplany of the Syro-Malabar Church , the largest communion of Catholics outside the Western church and a major group of Christians in India, was heckled, threatened and insulted by a group of the faithful on May 6. Pamplany was recently tasked with ending hostilities between two warring factions. The unruly incident of May 6 was the latest in a series of disruptions that often spiralled into violence, verbal abuse and toppling of altar tables. All of this has been unfolding in the context of a broader shift in the political and demographic heft of the church in Kerala, having triggered a realignment of the Christian voting bloc away from its traditional orientation. This has national implications, catalysing the rise of BJP as a third front in a state where it struggled for decades. Winning in Kerala is key to its ambition of being seen as a truly national party. Beyond political implications, the scuffle, scrimmage and skirmishes are reducing the Church's appeal to a younger generation, throwing into doubt the long-term future of one of Kerala's, and India's, most economically advantaged minorities. The face-off St Mary's Basilica in Kochi is a major spiritual centre of the Syro-Malabar Church. For the past 900 days, the Basilica, believed to have been constructed in 1112, has not seen Holy Mass, the most important prayer ritual for Catholics, being performed. Instead, it witnessed fights and police action. So, what is the mess all about? The Syro-Malabar Church, which claims to have 5 million followers, is the largest in India. Among autonomous congregations under Roman Catholicism—those outside the direct rule of the pope but owe allegiance to him—it is the largest. Members of this Church take pride in its apostolic origins. They believe St Thomas, one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, landed on the Kerala coast and baptised their forefathers in the first century AD. This community, known as Nasranis or St Thomas Christians, pre-existed European colonialism, which fuelled evangelisation in South Asia. A large fraction of them came into the Catholic fold in the 17th century under the Portuguese influence and came to be known as the Syro-Malabar Church. The present crisis stems from differing views on how Mass is celebrated. As an autonomous church within Roman Catholicism, the Syro-Malabar Church's council of bishops or synod has the power to decide on the liturgy—the rituals that make up worship. In 2021, the synod decided that the priest, during Mass, would face the altar throughout barring the introductory prayer, Bible reading and conclusion. Whether the priest should face the altar or the congregation during Mass has been a touchy topic for aeons. Given its potential to create disquiet, each diocese was given a choice on the matter, until 2021. A little liturgical history here. The Catholic mass celebration was altar-facing across the globe until the reformist second Vatican Council of 1962-65, which changed it, encouraging increased participation of people and allowing for vernacular languages. St Thomas Christians traditionally used Syriac—an ancient dialect of Eastern Middle Aramaic—for worship owing to their connections with the Church of East. But in 1965, in step with the global Catholic Church, the Syro-Malabar Church departed from its age-old, altar-facing Mass in Syriac and adopted a new, people-facing Malayalam liturgy. This was not agreeable to a section of the clergy, who argued this was against their distinct heritage and culture. This school of thought, called 'Chaldeanism', has remained dormant for decades. This faultline suddenly became a trigger for public acrimony and law and order problems after the August 2021 synod. The epicentre of the rebellion against the synod's decision is the ErnakulamAngamaly Archdiocese, Kerala's largest, with 655,000 members. A vast majority of the 469 priests and the faithful spread across 220 parishes vociferously protested the new diktat. The rebel priests and the faithful under the banner Archdiocese Protection Forum have since frequently clashed with prosynod priests and their supporters, each disrupting the celebration of Mass by the rival faction. 'Except one, every priest in this diocese is ideologically against the altar-facing Mass,' says Fr Augustine Vattoli, a rebel priest. Crucially, they also allege that the hasty enforcement of liturgical uniformity is a diversionary tactic. Questionable deals The allegation is that the changes were designed to take the public's attention away from a financial scandal. Fingers are pointed at Cardinal George Alencherry , their former head priest, who resigned, citing ill-health, in December 2023. Two weeks ahead of the synod decision, Kerala High Court had ordered that Cardinal Alencherry should stand trial in all cases linked to certain land deals that shook the Syro-Malabar Church in 2018. Priests and the laity had raised questions about these transactions. A panel appointed on their insistence found that the land deals resulted in a loss of `90 crore for the diocese. Alencherry had to step away from diocesan affairs and Bishop Jacob Manathodath was appointed as the administrator, who brought in KPMG for a forensic audit. The confidential KPMG report, which ET has reviewed, highlights lack of transparency, absence of due deliberations, contradictions in the cardinal's statements and process lapses in transactions. Sabu Jose, a prominent pro-Alencherry voice, dismisses any suggestion of a crisis in the Church. 'A small group of people with vested interests create trouble. Their objective was to stop the Syro-Malabar Church from becoming a patriarchate,' he says. Patriarchate is the highest status for a church within Roman Catholicism. Jose says the rebel priests who do not want to see Alencherry as a powerful bishop patriarch have unleashed a smear campaign. 'These priests did not even listen to Pope Francis who pleaded with them to align with the synod's decision on liturgy,' says Jose. Alencherry is still embroiled in at least half-a-dozen cases. After the adverse High Court verdict, he approached the Supreme Court, seeking exemption from appearing in land-related cases. His petition was dismissed. A few months later, the SC also dismissed his appeal, seeking the quashing of criminal proceedings. ET's mail to the PRO of the Syro-Malabar Church has remained unanswered at the time of going to press. Will the pope intervene? After the synod's decision and the subsequent hullabaloo, the alleged land irregularities, enquiries and court cases have seemingly faded from public memory. Earlier this year, the synod appointed Archbishop Pamplany as a mediator to resolve the liturgical dispute. On May 7, Pamplany faced the ire of a group who alleged that he was lenient towards the rebelling priests. Earlier, Pope Francis tried but could not bring harmony, having appealed to the congregation through a video message in December 2023. His successor Leo XIV began his papacy by saying, 'Peace be with you all.' Can he bring peace to the Syro-Malabar Church? He had visited Kerala many years ago as Father Robert Prevost, head of the Order of St Augustine. In many issues, including matters of liturgy, the Vatican's scope of intervention has some limitations due to the autonomous nature of the Syro-Malabar Church. However, his stature and the initial enthusiasm around the new pope could help Leo XIV stop a likely split in the SyroMalabar Church, the first in four centuries. State of the Church All of this is unfolding at a time when the broader Christian community is plagued by multiple problems. Some worries stem from new socio-economic realities. The spurt in migration to western countries and low birth rate have hit its numerical strength. About 5% of the faithful have migrated to North America, Australia and Europe. They are unlikely to return. The late demographer KC Zachariah had predicted that the community would enter zero population growth rate or negative population regime, terming it the 'Parsi Syndrome,' a reference to a similar dwindling that happened in that community in India. Then there was a sexual abuse case involving Bishop Franco Mulakkal. Although Mulakkal and the nun who accused him of rape were under the Jalandhar diocese, which is not part of the Syro-Malabar Church, they were born in this community. Five nuns staged a fortnight-long sit-in protest, demanding investigation against Mulakkal. He was jailed and later acquitted by court. He subsequently resigned. A section of the Catholic Church has also raised the spectre of 'love jihad'. This has led to the creation of a BJP-leaning group called the Christian Alliance for Social Action (CASA), which led to tensions with Muslims, damaging the communal harmony that long existed in Kerala. The Church traditionally balanced their relationship with the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the CPM-led Left Front fairly well. That, too, is changing. The first Lok Sabha victory for BJP from Kerala was partly attributed to Christian support. BJP's film star candidate, Suresh Gopi, won in Thrissur, which has around 3 lakh Christian voters. George Kurian, BJP's other Malayali Union minister, happens to be a Syro-Malabar Catholic. That is a lot of moving parts for Kerala's Christians. For starters, the new pope could do well by fixing the Syro-Malabar problem.
The Hindu
08-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Pro-Synod group told not to defeat peace efforts
The Syro-Malabar Church has condemned efforts by a group, claiming to be the champions of the Church, protesting against, trying to 'manhandle' and 'abuse' Archbishop Joseph Pamplany, vicar of the Major Archbishop of the Ernakulam-Angamalay Archdiocese. Such public protests and abuse of senior Church functionaries bring a bad name to the Church before the public, said the official spokesperson of the Church and media commission secretary Father Antony Vadakkekara in a statement on Thursday (May 8, 2025). 'Mar Pamplany was appointed to bring peace in the Mass liturgy issue and forge unity in the archdiocese. Those protesting against him in public raise the suspicion that they are working to sabotage peace efforts. How can those who view the vicar's efforts always with suspicion and try to spread misunderstanding about him be called friends of the Church,' asked Father Vadakkekara in the statement. The One Qurbana, One Church movement, which came under official Church criticism, said it would not allow Mar Pamplany to carry out what the group claimed was 'anti-Church consensus formula' in the Mass issue. The group alleged in a statement issued by its leaders Mathai Muthirenthi and Joseph P. Abraham that Mar Pamplany was trying to protect priests, whose actions called for ouster from the Church fold itself. The group of synod supporters said they came forward courageously to resist the rebels against the unified Mass, but their love for the Church had been questioned, leaders of the movement claimed. The spokesperson said those who criticised Mar Pamplany must realise that the concessions being extended by the vicar of the Major Archbishop in an effort to end the disunity over the Mass issue had been authorised by the synod itself. The Archbishop must be given time to bring about peace, and until that time, wait with patience, the statement appealed to the group.
