When Bishop Bosco Puthur was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Syro-Malabar Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly last December, there was hope the 77-year-old might finally be able to bring peace to the troubled community, split for years over liturgy, money and power.
Instead, the conflict shows no signs of abating, with the latest flashpoint coming Nov. 3 when clergy and laity joined in burning a new circular letter from Puthur outside churches where people had gathered for Sunday Mass.
The protests came after Puthur had appointed three priests to key positions in the archdiocese who are seen by dissidents as tainted by association with real estate scandals under the former head of the Syro-Malabar Church, Cardinal George Alencherry.
The protests also followed the issue of a circular letter by Puthur which, among other things, insists that newly ordained priests must celebrate Mass in a controversial new manner decreed by the Church’s synod, and bars priests and laity from criticizing authorities or documents.
Father Kuriakose Mundadan, secretary of the presbyteral council in the archdiocese, told Crux that he believes Puthur is acting “as a dictator.”
“He is blockading basic freedom of expression of the priests and the laity,” Mundadan said. “By silencing the people of God, Bishop Bosco Puthur is going against basic Christian and gospel values.”
Tensions in Ernakulam-Angamaly reach back at least to 2017, when complaints surfaced that Alencherry had sold certain properties belonging to the archdiocese without consulting the presbyteral council, which resulted in a $10 million loss. The controversy lead the Vatican to curtail Alencherry’s administrative powers and to appoint an apostolic administrator in June 2018.
Divisions deepened in 2021, when the synod of the Syro-Malabar Church based in Kerala decided to adopt a uniform mode of celebrating the liturgy, which priests face the people during the Liturgy of the Word and then the altar during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, turning around again to address the congregation after communion.
While virtually all of the Church’s dioceses have adopted the new system, clergy and laity in the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, by far the largest Syro-Malabar jurisdiction, have rejected it, arguing that facing the people throughout the Mass is a legitimate liturgical variation and one more consistent with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).
Last December Pope Francis released a video message to the archdiocese demanding obedience to the bishops and implementation of the new liturgy, but it did little to end the protests, with dissidents claiming the pope had been misinformed and misled.
Recently, a delegation of twelve priests went to the archbishop’s residence to meet Puthur in person to discuss the disputed appointments, but were blocked by police who had locked a gate to the entrance to the structure. After the priests refused to leave, the Assistant Police Commissioner agreed to mediate a meeting with Puthur in order to resolve the situation.
According to sources present in the meeting, the priests told Puthur that clergy and laity would not cooperate with him on anything until the three disputed priests are removed from their new positions.
At least in part, Puthur’s Oct. 30 circular letter likely was a response to the incident.
In it, Puthur said ordinations of deacons to the priesthood would take place Nov. 4, and the newly ordained priests will be permitted to say Mass only in the form approved by synod. He also decreed that the synodal Mass must be celebrated during at least one scheduled Sunday Mass in every parish.
Puthur also barred parish councils and other groups from taking any decisions contrary to the instructions of the bishop, and instructed priests and laity to refrain from “backbiting” with regard to church authorities. Priests were instructed not to criticize church leaders, and priests and religious were prohibited from belonging to any organizations which are not official recognized by the church.
Puthusn also warned of unspecified “canonical sanctions” for violations of his provisions.
Mundadan claimed that Puthur was “trying to protect his tainted priests whom he has selected as his close collaborators” by issuing the circular letter.
“The priests and the laity will raise their voices against Bishop Bosco and the synodal bishops who have violated canon laws and the procedures for taking a common decision in the Church,” he said.
Mundadan also charged that by seeking to prevent priests and laity from speaking out in protest of Church decisions, Puthur had violated the Indian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech in article 19.
Mundadan is not the only cleric objecting. Father Sebastian Thalian, convener of the Archdiocesan Protection Council, called on Puthur to withdraw the circular letter, while Father James Pereppadan, who has served as the archdiocese’s judicial vicar for 16 years, as well as the director of its Safe Environment Committee, resigned in protest.
The Syro-Malabar Church is the second largest Eastern Rite Catholic church in the world, after the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine, with an estimated five million members across 35 dioceses. Its largest single jurisdiction is Ernakulam-Angamaly, with roughly 500,000 Catholics.
