ERNAKULAM, India (OSV News) — The Vatican has ended its direct pontifical oversight of an Indian archdiocese after settling the long-standing liturgy dispute that risked dividing the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.
The Vatican informed the church’s head, Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, that Pope Leo XIV has announced the end of Slovak Archbishop Cyril Vasil of Košice’s mission as the pontifical delegate of the Syro-Malabar Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, according to an official statement released July 7.
The statement from Mount St. Thomas, the headquarters of the church based in southern India’s Kerala state, said Pope Leo agreed to end the papal administration of the troubled archdiocese on June 23, two years after the pontifical delegate was appointed.
Resolving a Liturgy Dispute
Pope Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, appointed Archbishop Vasil, a Jesuit, as his delegate in the summer of 2023, with a mandate to resolve the raging liturgy dispute that had become a scandal for the entire Catholic Church.
The dispute has been simmering for over 50 years, but worsened in 2021 when most priests and laypeople in the archdiocese refused to accept the rubrics of the Mass approved by the church’s synod, the top decision-making body.
The synod-approved Mass instructed priests in all 35 dioceses to face the altar during the Eucharistic prayer, but face the congregation during the Liturgy of the Word and again after Communion. Prior to this, some priests faced the altar during the entire celebration of the Eucharistic liturgy, while others faced the congregation throughout the liturgy.
All of the dioceses followed the synod’s instruction, but more than 400 priests in the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly refused and continued to face the people throughout the Mass.
The dispute resulted in protests, street marches, physical assaults and legal cases as both sides refused to compromise, even after Vatican interventions and papal appeals.
Threat of Division
It resulted in the appointment of a papal delegation, which also failed to find a solution, as Archbishop Vasil reportedly tried to enforce the synod decision instead of seeking a resolution through dialogue.
Archbishop Vasil’s stubbornness led priests and laity to become more firm in their stance, threatening to break away from the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church to form an independent Catholic Church and continue their liturgy.
However, the dispute was resolved on June 19, when the priests reached an agreement with Archbishop Thattil and his vicar, Archbishop Joseph Pamplany, who is the administrator of the archdiocese, to celebrate one Mass on Sundays and feast days following the rubrics approved by the synod.
The priests were allowed to celebrate their liturgy on all other days and for additional Masses on Sundays. Nearly all parishes in the archdiocese offer more than one Mass on Sunday mornings and at least one in the evening.
Church officials announced the acceptance of the terms and implemented the decision starting on July 3, the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, to whom the church traces its faith.
“Most parishes will hold the synod-approved Mass on Sunday evenings,” said a priest, who did not want to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
“Now that the dispute is resolved, there is no longer a need for any papal administration in the archdiocese,” he said.
The archdiocese was also under the authority of an apostolic administrator, through whom the pontifical delegate managed the administration. The Vatican had “also concluded the apostolic administration in the archdiocese,” the church statement said.
The Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly has approximately 500,000 Catholics, accounting for nearly 10% of the church’s total membership.
– – –
UCA News is an independent Catholic news service covering East, South and Southeast Asia.
