Cardinal Alencherry and four members of the Church's Permanent Synod held detailed discussions with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state and Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches on May 4 to amicably settle the five-decade-long liturgy dispute.

"We presented to them the situation in the Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly. They listened to us and made an assessment of the situation. The results of the meeting will come in due course," Cardinal Alencherry said in a statement issued on May 8.

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The priests and laity are demanding a liturgy variant status to their traditional Eastern rite Syro-Malaba Mass.

Regardless of the outcome, they'll do what they think is right, even if it means splitting with the body of the Church, they say.

The latest round of protests - which have been ongoing for several years - have seen the priests and laity blockading the Vatican-appointed administrator Archbishop Andrews Thazhath's house.

He has put himself in the firing line with his diocese by ordering a parish priest to follow the approved format when celebrating the Eucharist.

Around 100 members from different parishes in the archdiocese have called on the parish priest and the rector asking them to ignore Thazhath (pictured).

Both the priest and rector reportedly accepted the laity's request and pledged their full support in their struggle.

The laity later announced the Vatican administrator will not be allowed to enter any Church institution until he withdraws the order.

"When more than 99 percent of priests and faithful are in favour of the traditional Mass, why is it not accepted?" said a priest who did not want to be named.

The priest also hinted that in case the administrator tried to have his way or initiate action against the parish priest and the rector, it may lead to the archdiocese "going its own way".

The nearly five-decade-old row over the way the Mass is celebrated revived last year after the synod of bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church issued a diktat that all its 35 dioceses should celebrate the Mass in a uniform way.

There was initial resistance in other dioceses, but they began following the synod-approved Mass last November.

The resistance continued and took a turn for the worse in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese.

It is India's second-largest Catholic diocese.

The archdiocese is home to around 10 percent of the Syro-Malabar Church's five million Catholics.

"We will not call off our battle until our demand is met," the convener of the Archdiocesan Protection Committee says.

The Committee claims that around 500,000 faithful and 460 priests in the archdiocese support him.

These priests and laity accuse Thazhath of playing "dirty politics" and "misleading the Vatican".

Many Catholics are concerned as Thazhath, besides being the archbishop of neighbouring Trichur, is also the newly elected president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India.

He wants the Vatican to step in immediately and settle the dispute, hinting a schism could follow if the dispute continued.

"If the protest movement is allowed to continue for long, there is a possibility the archdiocese might declare itself as an independent Church," said a Christian leader who did not want to be named.

Source

• UCA News

The Kerela High Court dismissed an appeal by Cardinal George Alencherry seeking exemption from appearing in a district court.

The decision means the head of Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church will have to personally appear in a court in Ernakulam district in connection with the criminal cases pending against him.

Cardinal Alencherry had pleaded that the presence of his legal counsel be treated as his presence in court as he is "a senior citizen aged 77 years and the head of the Syro-Malabar Church" with duties like "performing religious ceremonies, rituals, including the ordination of bishops, priests, the consecration of churches" among other things.

Justice Ziyad Rahman dismissed the cardinal's pleas as "untenable" as the offences alleged against him were serious and "punishable with imprisonment for seven years or more".

The judge further observed that if the cardinal admittedly attends meetings across the globe, including in Rome, then he is not under any physical difficulty that could prevent him from appearing in court, which is barely three kilometres from his official residence.

The prelate is facing 14 criminal cases in connection with the dubious land deals executed in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese since his appointment as its head in May 2011.

Those accusing him of alleged corruption in the sale of Church lands claim a loss of US$10 million to the archdiocese.

A church official, who did not want to be named, told UCA News: "A Catholic bishop does not sell diocesan properties in his individual capacity. He only follows the advice of his council of priests and others empowered to do so."

These allegations forced the Vatican to curtail Cardinal Alencherry's administrative powers and an apostolic administrator in June 2018.

Hundreds of Catholics in Ernakulam-Angamaly staged a torchlight protest in front of the Archbishop's House, demanding the prelate's resignation as the Major Archbishop in wake of the court order.

The protestors said the prelate had brought shame to the entire Syro-Malabar Church and the Christian community in India.

Sources

• UCA News
• CathNews New Zealand

The protesters also called for a total boycott of Cardinal Alencherry, even as church officials called for punitive action against those involved in burning the effigies. The media commission of the Kerala-based Syro-Malabar Church termed it as an open challenge to the Church and the pope.

Father Alex Onampally, secretary of the media commission, said in a March 17 statement that "actions would be taken against those involved in burning effigies of cardinals as per the provisions of the Canon Laws."

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Alencherry is facing criminal charges for controversial land deals, resulting in a loss of about NZ$20million to the archdiocese.

"There are two complaints - writing the deed of the sale of property without even receiving any payment and selling the property belonging to the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese without communicating with any of the committees of the Church," attorney Rajendran V, said.

The Vatican has consented to the Syro-Malabar Church Synod's request to appoint Bishop Antony Kariyil as the Vicar Archbishop.

Kariyil's post has been created to tide over the crisis in the Syro-Malabar Church.

Father Abraham Kavilpurayidathil, press officer for the Syro-Malabar Church in Kerala state, said the allegations against Alencherry are part of a coordinated attack against him.

"There have been attempts to defame Alencherry by a small group who constantly demands that he should resign.

"For this purpose, somebody forged a few documents that show Cardinal transacted money to business firms, that he has membership in famous clubs, that he convened business meetings along with some other bishops of the Latin Church of Kerala in a commercial institution etc."

Alencherry's many detractors include priests revolting against him over the land deals.

Kavilpurayidathil blames them for Alencherry's court battles.

"The news as reported is the work of the dissident group as the case itself. It is true that cardinal lost in the lower court, but that is not the end. He will be making appeal to the High Court of Kerala in due time," he said.

Although the the Synod took strong exception to the priests' revolt, it did not take any action against them.

Fr Jose Vailikkodath, who led the rebellion, said he and his confreres were happy a new administrative archbishop had been appointed.

"It is a moment of victory for the priests and a section of laity who led the protest against the Cardinal. But, it is sad that the Synod has failed to find remedy for the financial loss,'' he said.

Source

• Indian Express
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Deccan Chronicle

Alencherry was removed from his administrative responsibilities last year after priests made public allegations that he sold off land and incurred a loss of US$10 million for the archdiocese.

Now a spokesperson for the priests says the Oriental congregation "faked the documents" to reinstate Alencherry without the Pope's knowledge.

They say there has been no direct official announcement from the Vatican on reinstating the cardinal or suspending the auxiliary bishops.

The only official announcement from the national bishops' conference referred to Francis asking the Apostolic Administrator to go back to his diocese as his term of office had ended.

"We have no other information," the vice-president of the national bishops' conference says.

The 250 priests, from India's Eastern Rite Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, want Pope Francis to intervene.

"From Pope Francis, who takes a firm stand for truth and justice, we expect a lasting solution for the issues facing the archdiocese," they said a statement.

The priests say a crisis of faith emerged in the Church when the Oriental Congregation reinstated Alencherry without providing any explanation for Alencherry's "moral decadence" in relation to the land deal.

The priests claimed that "even ordinary faithful" doubt the morality of reinstating the cardinal.

The Oriental Congregation also suspended Alencherry's two assistants from their auxiliary bishop posts, without publicly giving any reasons for doing so.

The Oriental Congregation has asked that the next synod of the local Church decide on their future roles.

The priests are condemning the lack of explanation.

Church sources said the suspension punishes the two bishops for being supportive of the priests, rather than of the cardinal.

Source

• UCA News
• Crux Now

The Cardinal was temporarily suspended following the start of a judicial proceeding that saw him involved in an alleged illegal sale of land belonging to the local Church.

The Cardinal has been definitively acquitted of all charges. Read more

Police in the Kerala state found after months of investigation that bank accounts presented as evidence against Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Syro-Malabar Church (one of the three rites of the Indian Catholic Church), had been falsified.

The documents concern a scandal involving the sale of land owned by the Church, in which the cardinal was involved last year.

The investigators claim that Alencherry does not have any bank accounts, as claimed by the prosecution.

The police have not found the source that falsified the documents.

The investigation of Alencherry began in March 2018.

A member of the local church had accused him, two priests and a land-broker of causing significant losses to the church by allowing a piece of land in Kochi to be sold for less than the market price without the prior authorisation of the diocese's ecclesiastical bodies and financial advisors.

The "reckless" real estate operation which occurred between April 2015 and November 2017 is alleged to have cost the Church 10 million dollars as against the land's actual market value.

Alencherry also came under the spotlight because 200 local priests organised a street demonstration in which they asked him to clarify the matter.

In June last year, the Vatican relieved Alencherry of his administrative duties.

Source

• AsiaNews
• Image: Scroll.in