Archbishop quits amid Church Mass row
Kochi: Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese Apostolic vicar Antony Kariyil, who had opposed uniform way of celebrating Holy Mass, stepped down on Tuesday ater a delegate from the Vatican talked to him and demanded his resignation.
Vatican delegate Nuncio Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli met the Archbishop on Tuesday to discuss the split in Syro Malabar Church over uniform Holy Mass. Mar Antony Kariyil had earlier refused to resign as instructed by Vatican.
The action against Antony Kariyil is reportedly initiated for not following the instructions of the Vatican and synod in the maters regarding uniform Holy Mass.
Antony Kariyil had stood with the priests who raised opposition against Major Archbishop Mar George Alencherry in the controversies in the Church over land transactions and implementing a uniform way of performing Holy Mass.
Among the 35 dioceses, only the Ernakulam archdiocese refused to adopt to perform uniform Holy Mass. Bishop Leopoldo Girelli had summoned Antony Kariyil to Delhi on July 19 and handed over a leter demanding his resignation.
According to the instructions issued by the top authorities, Antony Kariyil will not be allowed to reside within the limits of the archdiocese or participate in public gatherings.
On Monday, the community of priests in the archdiocese held a protest meeting against the Vatican’s decision asking Archbishop Kariyil to step down.
Around 200 priests participated in the meeting here on Monday. A senior priest of the archdiocese, who participated in the protest meeting said that the decision to ask Archbishop Kariyil was not right. The priests’ collective and Archdiocese Protection Commitee extended support to Antony Kariyil, saying that Cardinal Mar George Alencherry was the person to be ousted.
The meeting passed a resolution and sent it to the metropolitan.
“We oppose the Vatican emissary forcefully demanding the resignation of Archbishop Mar Antony Kariyil, the Metropolitan Vicar...he is a prelate fully commited to Jesus, the Word of God, and the Roman Pontiff.