Some newly introduced sacramental changes in the Syro-Malabar Church (SMC) are being met with opposition from priests and churchgoers, who say they do not understand the need for revision.
Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil of Ernakulam-Angamaly, who heads the Oriental-rite Catholic Church based in the southern Indian state of Kerala, promulgated the changes in five of the seven Sacraments in a Jan. 3 communique to all 26 SMC dioceses. The revisions, approved by Pope John Paul II, change procedures for administering Baptism, Confirmation, Matrimony, Anointing of the Sick and Reconciliation. The revisions took effect on Jan. 6.
Soon after the changes were promulgated, some priests criticized them openly in the media. The Nazrani Catholic Priests´ Conference, an association of SMC priests, said they resent the "impractical and unwanted" sacramental changes.
News reports quoted the leader of the association, Father Francis Karippery, as saying its members had previously rejected the changes at the discussion level. It would be difficult for the priests to follow the changes, he said.
One change he described as "cruel" was administration of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist together to infants, in line with Eastern Church theology and practice.
"It is a difficult practice as it takes at least one hour for these rituals to be complete," Father Karippery told UCA News. "It is difficult for us now to follow these new rules, which we had rejected," he said, adding that his association has asked Cardinal Vithayathil to annul the promulgation.
A noted liturgical expert supports those opposing the changes. "There was absolutely no need for these changes, which only brought about departure from the centuries-old tradition of the Church," says Father Antony Nariculam.
A professor of Liturgy at SMC-run St Joseph´s Major Seminary, he told UCA News Jan. 18 that the revisions "confused many clergy and laypeople," and he is "unable to understand what the Church has gained by making these changes."
Father Nariculam said the old system of sacramental administration "has been in practice ever since the historic Synod of Diamper in 1599," convened by Portuguese missioners.
The seminary is in Aluva (formerly Alwaye), a little north of Kochi, the base of the SMC, 2,590 kilometers south of New Delhi. The other Oriental-rite Catholic Church in India, the Syro-Malankara Church, also is based in Kerala. Those Churches, which trace their origins to Saint Thomas the Apostle and follow Syrian Church traditions, and the Latin-rite Church, introduced by European missioners beginning in the 15th century, form the Catholic Church in India.
Many of the concerns expressed at the sacramental revisions concern administration of all three Sacraments of initiation to infants.
"I do not like little children being given Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist together," remarked Kurian Joseph, a shop owner in Kochi.
Mariamma Mathew, a housewife running a preschool for children in the city, also said infants should not be given the Eucharist. "Accepting Eucharist is sacred for me. It should not be given to children who do not know anything," she told UCA News Jan. 18.
The new Book of Sacraments stipulates that the Eucharist, first given usually at the age of 7 or 8, be given at the time of Baptism and Chrismation, the new name for Confirmation.
Other Eastern Churches practice the custom of giving Eucharist to newborn babies during Baptism, SMC spokesperson Father Paul Thelakat explained to UCA News. This involves putting a tiny piece of a consecrated host on the child´s tongue. "But the Holy Communion would be officially given to the children only after they are grown up and taught about its importance," the official added.
Father Pauly Kannukadan, secretary of the SMC-run Liturgical Research Center that prepared the new Book of Sacraments, told UCA News Jan. 18 that whatever the opposition, the changes will not be withdrawn.
The changes were made after "wide-ranging consultations," he said, suggesting that "those who criticize the changes do not correctly understand their implications." He added that the revisions were made to help the SMC "find its own identity."
Father Kannukadan added that the Church leadership takes such opposition "in good spirit." He is to lead a Church team that would meet priests and lay leaders who expressed reservations on the changes.
"Our effort is to explain to them once again the need for such changes. This is not going to be any major issue in the Church," he said.
The SMC, most of whose members live in Kerala, accounts for 3.5 million of India´s 16 million Catholics. It has experienced internal disagreements for two decades, with one group wanting to revive Oriental liturgy and administration in its pre-Portuguese purity while other groups insisted on change along more modern lines.
Pope John Paul II intervened, and in 1992 raised the Church to major archiepiscopal status but reserved the powers to decide liturgical matters and appoint bishops.
In 1998 the pope ended the reservation on liturgical matters. In January 2004, the Church´s synod gained the right to elect bishops for the 15 SMC dioceses in Kerala. However, this right does not extend to election of bishops in the other 10 SMC dioceses in India or the one based in the United States.
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