A group of people in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese have asked Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil and apostolic administrator Bosco Puthur to celebrate the synod-approved unified Mass on the Syro-Malabar Church Day on July 3.
Leaders of the group Catholic Nazrani Sangham told a press conference that the Church authorities must freeze the bank accounts of churches that refuse to celebrate the unified Mass. Priests who refuse to celebrate the unified Mass should be ousted from the Church and such churches shut down, the forum demanded.
The group also demanded that the practice of misinforming the faithful must end and that the five bishops who had publicly expressed their objections to the synod decisions should not be allowed to participate in the synod meeting scheduled in August. The group called for police protection for priests who are ready to offer the synod mass on July 3. The leaders of the group had met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with the demand recently, they said.
‘Protest will intensify’
The Sangham leadership warned the Church leaders that they would not allowed to come out of their residences if they did not punish the priests who refused to offer the synod Mass. The faithful were also preparing for a more intense protest, the statement added.
Sangham chairman M.P. George said the protest would begin on July 3 at the headquarters of the Syro-Malabar Church at Mount St. Thomas, Kakkanad. The leaders of the group would meet on Tuesday in Aluva to chart out a programme of protest.
‘Last chance’
Meanwhile, Samyukta Sabha Samrakshana Samiti, a laity group in the archdiocese in support of the synod Mass said that July 3 would be the last chance for rebel priests to obey the synod on the unified Mass issue. This would be the chance for the rebels who have been defying the Church authorities for several years now, said a statement from Samiti leader Mathai Muthirenthy here on Monday.
He said the faithful would back any move to oust the priests who refused to offer the unified Mass from St. Thomas’ Day. The group also named priests who had publicly challenged the Church authorities and said that they should not be allowed to continue within the Church.
