The ongoing dispute over liturgy in the Syro-Malabar Church appears to have taken a turn for the worse, with anonymous letters threatening physical violence being issued to priests in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese who are opposed to the synod-recommended Mass.
Father Jose Cholikkara, parish priest of St. Sebastian’s Church at Ashokapuram, near Aluva, said he had received an unsigned letter from ‘Children of the Church’ threatening to chop of the hands of priests who disobeyed the synod order on Mass.
Almaya Munnettam, a forum of lay people in the archdiocese, said the coterie of ‘Chaldeans’ in the archdiocese appeared to be distributed enough to resort to physical threats.
The forum said such threats would not affect the determination of the priests to celebrate full congregation-facing Mass against the 50:50 Mass ordered by the synod of the church.
The development came even as papal delegate to the archdiocese Cyril Vasil is in town to meet the church hierarchy and possibly priests after Pope Francis set the Christmas day as the deadline for all in the archdiocese to adhere to the synod Mass. Disobedience will lead to expulsion from the Catholic communion, the Pope had said.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that priests who have received threat letters will file police complaints.
