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Almaya Munnettam, a lay people’s forum in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese, claimed here on April 25 (Thursday) that Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church Raphael Thattil had no powers over the archdiocese, and that the archdiocese continued to be under the supervision of the Vatican.
The lay group has vociferously opposed the synod Mass or unified Mass and favoured a full people-facing Mass against the synod diktat. It is part of a larger ‘rebel’ group, including the vast majority of priests in the archdiocese who want to be hived off the larger Syro-Malabar Church to exist as a metropolitan Church under the Vatican, but with the Syro-Malabar synod holding sway over its affairs. The group has also said it will be happy to be considered as practising a liturgical variant with regard to Mass liturgy within the Syro-Malabar Church.
The lay group denied reports in a section of the media that Rome had asked for a plan of action to implement the synod Mass by Thursday. The group also alleged there was a campaign on social media to intimidate the group.
The appointment order of Thattil as major archbishop had made it clear that Bosco Puthur would continue to be the apostolic administrator of the archdiocese until disposition by the Vatican. Thattil, therefore, had no authority over the archdiocese, the lay group claimed. It also said that neither the Syro-Malabar synod nor the permanent synod of the Church had a say in the administration of the archdiocese.
