The infight in Kerala Catholic church took an ugly turn as priests and laity from two opposing sides clashed inside the St Mary’s Cathedral Basilica in Ernakulam, with one group even damaging church property on the eve of Christmas. The churches in Ernakulam, Changanassery and other nearby areas have been embroiled in a fight ever since the Synod of the Syro Malabar Catholic Church decided to implement a uniform way of celebrating holy mass from November 2021. The Synod decided that priests should face the altar during most times of the mass, however many churches opposed this uniform format mass as their priests conduct the mass facing the congregation. On December 23, two such groups came face to face inside the St Mary’s Cathedral Basilica leading to clashes that are still ongoing.
From videos available, it seems that two groups started holding the Friday mass in two different ways inside the church on December 23. While one group started mass facing the congregation, another group led by the cathedral administrator Father Antony Poothavelil faced the altar and started the mass a few minutes later. Visuals show that the laity, or devotees gathered at the church soon pitched in and obstructed the priests who were facing the congregation. Their ceremonial books and candles were taken away.
On December 24, as the morning mass began, a group of those supporting the uniform format of mass rushed inside the cathedral and opposed the priests facing the altar. An altercation followed and the credence table was damaged. As the two groups clashed, police arrived and pushed them out of the church building. The fight continued in the church compound and finally the police were forced to evict both groups from the cathedral.
The group which was against the uniform format of mass had called the police for protection, but later alleged that the police failed in their duty. Soon, this group marched to the nearest police station and clashed with the police.
As per the uniform format proposed by the Synod, the priest would celebrate the mass facing the devotees in the introductory part, the Liturgy of the Word (three readings of the Bible), and during the concluding blessing part. During most parts of the holy communion (the Liturgy of the Eucharist), the priest would face the altar. However, the fight over the unified mass is only a part of the problem. The Syro Malabar church has been facing factionalism for many years now and it has become much more severe in the last two years after Cardinal George Alencherry, who was also the diocese head at the time, was accused of mismanaging the sale and causing loss worth several crores to the church.