Kochi’s St Mary’s Basilica reopens after 486 days

Kochi: St Mary's Cathedral Basilica, the church that had remained shut for the past 486 days as a symbol of the ongoing tussle in the Syro-Malabar Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese, was reopened on Tuesday following a local court's order. Vicar of the church Fr Varghese Manavalan reopened the church at 6 pm and conducted the 'way of the cross'.

The famous shrine which was closed on November 27, 2022 by the police following a stand-off between two groups of devotees over the implementation of the unified Mass.

The First Class Additional Munsiff Court here on Tuesday ordered that the church be opened. The court directed the vicar of the church to "conduct celebrations of all sacraments and sacramentals except holy Qurbana". The order came on a petition filed by a group of devotees.

The court said if anyone obstructs or interrupts the opening of the church, the petitioners and the church authorities can approach the police.

The court said mediation talks shall be initiated by the parties concerned to see if the holy mass as formulated by the Synod can be conducted on the Easter Day. On conducting the unified Mass, the two parties will explore the possibility of arriving at a consensus and the result will be submitted to the court on Wednesday.

The church was shut down after the premises of the Basilica witnessed a protest after Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, the apostolic administrator of the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, insisted that he wanted to celebrate the uniform way of Holy Mass at the Church. The archbishop was prevented from celebrating Holy Mass at the St Mary’s Cathedral Basilica in Kochi, by the dissident group of Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, triggering the violence outside the church, between supporters of Synod’s move to impose uniformity in celebrating the Holy Mass in churches and the group opposing it.

The Archdiocese Protection Committee said the Basilica would not be allowed to open as they cannot agree with the uniformity in the Holy Mass celebrated in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese.

The dissident group's argument is that the majority of priests, nuns, and laity of the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese want to continue to celebrate the Holy Mass facing the people because it was part of the Second Vatican Council.

Though the Syro-Malabar Church Synod had tried to reopen the shrine last year, the attempts failed as a section of protesting priests and laity obstructed the move alleging that the Synod was trying to impose uniformity in celebrating the Holy Mass there.