Unified Mass: Truce in Syro-Malabar Church’s Ernakulam-Angamaly diocese, rebel priests end protest

Rebel priests end protest at Ernakulam-Angamaly Archbishop's house after reaching agreement with Church hierarchy, promising peaceful settlement.

Rebel priests called off their fast and prayer protest on the premises of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archbishop’s house in the early hours of Monday (January 13, 2025) in what appears to be a temporary truce in the archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church over unified Mass and the demand by the rebel group to disband the recently-constituted archdiocesan curia.

The official Church hierarchy and the rebels reached an agreement and the rebel priests ended their protest, which has been brewing since Thursday, after the new vicar of the Major Archbishop for the archdiocese Joseph Pamplany met the priests in a marathon meeting from 10.30 p.m. on Sunday until its end around 2 a.m. on Monday.

Archbishop Pamplany exuded confidence as he arrived for the discussion Sunday night and the rebels welcomed his appointment and initiative and expressed faith in his leadership.

“It is a new beginning, and we are hopefully walking towards a peaceful settlement and a space where we will be accepted,” said a senior priest after the peace meeting.

A statement from the rebel group said that according to the agreement with the new vicar, the priests ended their protest to return to their posts. The communication from the group claimed that all the canonical bodies in the archdiocese will be reconstituted within a month and the authorities will end all proceedings against the priests.

The agreement also included removing the police from the Archbishop’s house by January 20 to allow everyone to enter there without any restriction, the rebels claimed.

They also said that a fresh round of discussions over various issues will begin on January 20. An agreement on these issues was signed by the 21 priests who were protesting on the premises of the Archbishop’s House, they said.