The archbishop charged with settling a protracted and sometimes violent liturgical confrontation within the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church has warned that he will remove the leadership of the basilica at the center of the dispute if they do not agree to celebrate the Eucharistic liturgy according to new norms approved by the Syro-Malabar Synod.
Archbishop Andrews Thazath of Trichur, who is acting as apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, has written to Msgr. Antony Nariculam, the vicar of the cathedral in Ernakulam, insisting that rebellious priests and lay people can no longer oppose the “uniform mode” of the Syro-Malabar liturgy.
The cathedral has been closed for six months, after protests against the liturgical changes turned violent there. Cardinal George Alencherry of Ernakulam has backed the changes, as have the leaders of all other eparchies (diocese) in the Syro-Malabar Church. But priests and lay people in Ernakluam have refused to allow the new liturgy in the cathedral.
In his warning to the basilica’s leaders, Archbishop Thazhath wrote:
Holy Qurbana in the basilica can be celebrated only as per the synodal decision of uniform mode. Until that is possible, Holy Qurbana shall not be celebrated there.
[The “Holy Qurbana” is the Syro-Malabar term for the Eucharistic liturgy.