Syro-Malabar peace talks in peril after diocese maintains rebel priest suspensions

“We had thought they were sincere in their efforts for reconciliation,” said Fr Rajan Punnackal, one of the priests involved in protests outside the Archbishop’s House.

Hopes for a resolution to the Syro-Malabar Church’s bitter liturgical feud suffered a setback on 23 January, when the Church’s spokesman issued a note refusing to revoke suspension orders and disciplinary proceedings against dissident priests.

The priests in the Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly, in India’s southern state of Kerala, received a message from the diocesan spokesperson Fr Joshy Puthuva saying that “suspension is on and procedure is on”.

On 12 January the newly-appointed vicar and apostolic administrator for Ernakulam-Angamaly, Archbishop Joseph Pamplany, had agreed during talks with protesting clergy to pause the suspension of 10 priests until he had studied their complaints about the implementation of the “uniform rite” of the Syro-Malabar liturgy and diocesan governance.

“We had thought they were sincere in their efforts for reconciliation,” said Fr Rajan Punnackal, who reportedly suffered a fracture on 11 January when police broke up a protest by 21 priests outside the Archbishop’s House in Kochi, where the Church’s synod met on 6-11 January. 

Fr Punnackal told The Tablet that Archbishop Pamplany had agreed to their demands and signed an agreement with the 21 priests on 12 January, affirming his resolve to look into their demands during the second round of talks. He said Archbishop Pamplany must have been “aware” of Fr Puthuva’s note which he said violated the agreement.

“It could not have been sent without his approval. It may be the Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil’s diktat. That is why we insisted that he should be there at our next meeting with the vicar,” he said.  Archbishop Thattil, the Syro-Malabar primate, is the nominal head of the archeparchy.

“This is the work of the criminal curia. We will not hold further talks till the current curia and the canonical bodies are reconstituted,” said Fr Jose Vailikodath, the spokesperson of the rebel faction.

Fr Punnackal said that “during the first late night meeting, due to paucity of time, we just mentioned briefly our demands. At the next meeting on 21 January we had explained in detail and Archbishop Pamplany had agreed to look into our demands.”

He continued: “Bishop Bosco Puthur [the former apostolic administrator] sent the suspension order after resigning from the post. It is ‘morally unbecoming’ as he cannot make big decisions after putting in his papers. When he resigned rightly his curia should also have been disbanded but they continue to date.”

Archbishop Pamplany had asked for a month to make changes to the canonical bodies, said Punnackal, but Puthur had constituted his curia and council within three days.

“Besides revoking of the suspension of the priests our other demands included removal of the police from the Archbishop’s house,” he added.  The police have since been removed.

Pamplany had promised that discussions to resolve the pastoral crisis at St Mary’s Cathedral Basilica would continue and that no parallel administrative systems would be encouraged in any parish. “However, we will wait and watch,” added Fr Vailikodath.

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