Group of protesters defy ‘diktat’ on unified Mass

They throw copies of the diktat issued by Archbishop in waste bins

Representatives of the parish councils in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese deposited in Corporation of Cochin waste bins the copy of a diktat by Archdiocesan Administrator Archbishop Andrews Tazhath insisting on implementing a unified Mass system in the archdiocese. The copies of the diktat were dumped in the waste bins after the parish representatives took a resolution that only fully people-facing Mass would be allowed in the archdiocese, said Riju Kanjookkaran of Almaya Munnettam, a combine of lay people and priests who are demanding that the decision of the synod of bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church in August last year on implementing a unified Mass system should not be forced on the faithful in the archdiocese.

The group of faithful in St. Mary's Basilica, seat of the archdiocese, and Kerala Catholic Youth Movement representatives were among those who joined the protest, said Mr. Kanjookkaran. He said that around 300 parishes in the archdiocese have taken a resolution that only fully people-facing Mass would be allowed in the archdiocese.

The synod of bishops has insisted that the Mass system should be uniform, in which the celebrant, the priest celebrating the Mass, should face the congregation for the first half of the Mass and then face away from them for the second half. However, most of the parishes in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, which is the largest administrative unit in the Syro-Malabar Church, have said they wanted only a fully people-facing Mass.