The video message, from the beginning of December, is the last warning that the Pope wanted to give, above all, to the priests of the Archieparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly (India) to celebrate Christmas according to the Eucharistic rite agreed upon by the Syro-Malabar Synod held in 2021, (which welcomes what was agreed upon in the Synod held in 1999).
According to them, it was decided that the celebration of the Holy Qurbana - as the Eucharistic celebration is called in the Syro-Malabar rite - would take place on half of the day of the Eucharist. coram populum (facing the people) and half coram deo (facing God, looking at the altar).
The Pontiff has opted for this path, as he himself confesses, "so that no one has doubts about what the Pope thinks", after having sent two letters, one in 2021 and the other in 2022, as well as the visit of a papal delegate. The conflict, which was initially considered a debate on the liturgy of the Eucharist, is now clearly an ecclesial issue. According to Prof. Pablo Gefaell, priest and consultant to the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, the Indian problem is no longer a liturgical conflict but a frontal opposition to Rome.
The Pope is aware of this and has expressed it in the video message, which has been branded as an ultimatum, where he strongly exhorts to assume the liturgical rite unanimously approved by the Synod to celebrate Christmas "in communion".
The Pope also warns them that the reasons for disobedience have nothing to do with the celebration of the Eucharist or the liturgy, but are "worldly reasons" that "do not come from the Holy Spirit". And he adds: "I have carefully and opportunely studied the reasons that have been put forward over the years to convince you".
This is the first conflict with the Syro-Malabar Church, one of the 23 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion - until now - with Rome. Based in the Indian state of Kerala, it has more than four million members worldwide and is the second largest Eastern Catholic Church after the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
The background to the conflict
The controversy centers on a debate over the direction in which the priest should celebrate the Holy Qurbana, a debate that has its origins in a decision of the Second Vatican Council for Eastern regions to abandon Latin customs and rites and return to their traditional Eastern rites.
The adoption of Latin rituals by the Eastern Catholic regions is what is known as "latinization", a process that developed in most of the Eastern regions with the aim of eradicating the heresy of Nestorianism, which then plagued the whole area.
The decision of the Council was not received in the same way within the Syro-Malabar Catholic branch. It can be said that there were then two distinct zones: the southern zone, which had always followed the ancient rites, celebrating facing the altar; and the northern zone, which adopted the post-conciliar Latin liturgical reform, beginning to celebrate the Mass facing the people.
The Synod of 2021
In August 2021, the synod of the Syro-Malabar Church agreed on a uniform solution in which the priest would celebrate the Eucharist facing the faithful during the liturgy of the Word and the Communion rite, turning towards the altar during the Eucharistic liturgy.
After initial resistance, all the southern dioceses eventually adopted the ritual formula agreed upon by the Synod except the diocese of Ernakulam which continued to celebrate facing the faithful for almost five decades, also demanding the Vatican's acceptance of its traditional Mass as a variant of the liturgy.
In recent months, the conflict has worsened, with violent incidents such as the burning of the effigies of Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Oriental Churches, and of Cardinal George Alencherry, until a few weeks ago major archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, on March 17 in Kochi, southwest India.
Vatican's warning calls
In July 2021, Pope Francis issued a letter in which he exhorted "all clergy, religious and lay faithful to proceed to a prompt application of the uniform way of celebrating the Holy Qurbana, for the greater good and unity of your Church."
In March 2022 the pope sent a second letter in which he expressed his regret that the archieparchy continued to "assert its own 'liturgical particularity', the fruit of reflection, but isolated from the rest of the Syro-Malabar Church".
In the face of the refusal of some of the faithful and priests, and in an effort to put an end to the increasing crisis Cardinal Alencherry expressed to the Pope the need for pontifical intervention to resolve the dispute. Thus, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Cyril Vasil, former secretary of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, as pontifical delegate to address the ongoing conflict.
In spite of all the efforts and in the face of constant opposition from some priests, Cardinal George Alencherry presented his resignation to the Pope after the episodes of protests and violence against him and the pressures in the diocese, an event that some interpret as "the straw that broke the camel's back" of a situation that has reached its limit. Faced with this situation, the pope decided to record the video message, published on December 7, to underline his desire to put an end to this controversy.
The ultimate decision rests with the Pope
December 25 is the deadline set for dissident priests to adopt the rite approved by the synod or they could be excommunicated by the Pope. According to Prof. Pablo Gefaell, this would be done through a Declaration of an excommunication latae sententiaeThis is a formula of excommunication with immediate and declarative effects, i.e., in a public and nominal manner.
It is known that there are 400 priests who have consistently opposed following Rome's instructions although it appears that there are 12 who are willing to adopt the rite agreed upon at the Synod. Moreover, although many priests would like to join those 12, there are many pressures in the diocese not to do so.
The only known historical precedent is the excommunication of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X - better known as the Lefbrevians - for consecrating four bishops in 1988 against the express prohibition of Pope John Paul II. Benedict XVI remitted the excommunication and today there is a constructive but slow dialogue with the Vatican to bring them back into communion with the Church.
In the event of excommunication, it would be a great blow both to the Church, already divided within itself, and to the Pope, who has defended its unity and worked so hard for dialogue with the peoples during his pontificate.
