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The meeting, attended by more than 200 priests and over 1,000 representatives from various parishes, demanded that the synod end its unfair treatment of the archdiocese. They described as unprecedented in the Church’s history the presence of four bishops — including three auxiliary bishops — in a diocese with fewer than 2,00,000 faithful. They pointed out that despite Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese having around 6,00,000 faithful, it doesn’t have a single auxiliary bishop. The participants said that Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, which they claimed has more faithful than the combined strength of the 21 dioceses of Syro-Malabar Church, was not receiving due representation and consideration.
The meeting decided to submit a petition, signed by all priests and parish representatives of the archdiocese, to Pope Leo. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Kochi | Silver Rate in Kochi | Bank Holidays in Kochi | Public Holidays in Kochi Stay updated with the latest Kochi news.
They said it was contrary to the ecclesiastical norms followed so far. The meeting said that lasting peace wouldn’t be possible until the ‘Mass facing the people’ currently followed in the archdiocese was recognised as an approved liturgical variant. Kochi : Priests and parish representatives of Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese held a protest meeting, raising serious concerns over what they described as continued injustice and neglect by Syro-Malabar Church synod. It called for the archdiocese to withdraw from the reconciliation process if the alleged discrimination continued, and urged parishes to boycott major archbishop and other church authorities until bishops were appointed from among the archdiocese’s clergy. The appointment of a third auxiliary bishop for Kottayam diocese hasn’t gone down well with the laity activists of Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese. If the situation didn’t change, the meeting called for exploring the possibility of leaving Syro-Malabar Church and functioning as an independent church under Pope. It decided to include the demand in the petition to Pope. The protest meeting alleged that Cardinal Mar George Koovakad, despite not being a Syro-Malabar synod member, was making inappropriate interventions. It authorised office-bearers to bring the allegation to Pope’s attention. The meeting was presided over by Fr Sebastian Thaliyan, convener of Archdiocese Protection Committee. The issues were presented by Kuriakose Mundadan, secretary of the presbyteral committee; Shaiju Antony, secretary of pastoral council; former vicar general Joy Ainiyadan; Frs Joseph Parekkattil, Sunny Kalapuraykkal, Paul Chittinappilly and Jerry Njaliath; and Biju Thomas. Here are more Raksha Bandhan wishes , Bhadra kaal and Shubh Muhurat from The Times of India. Download the TOI App.