Kochi: The ongoing dispute over the unification of holy mass in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church took a political turn on Sunday. The section of clergy and laity opposing the official line slammed both the ruling CPM and the opposition Congress for their apathy towards the cause.

Thousands of members of the archdiocese, including priests, nuns and laity who are against the church leadership’s move to implement the uniformed style of holy mass, took out a march in the city on Sunday. They protested the police action against 21 priests who had been staging a prayer vigil at the Bishop’s House on Saturday morning.

At a meeting following the march, leaders of the section blasted the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government for the police action while coming down heavily on the Congress for remaining silent on the police action.

The protestors said Ernakulam Central ACP C Jayakumar had told them that the police acted against the priests because the government was not in favour of them. Addressing the gathering, senior priest Fr Kuriakose Mundadan asked if the government's stand meant that the ‘Pinarayi government doesn’t want votes from the members of the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese?’.

He said the left party feared it would not gain support from the Syro Malabar church members in other parts of the state if it supported the cause of the dissenting section in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese.

He was more critical of Congres. He claimed that Congress candidate Uma Thomas won the Thrikkakara bypoll, necessitated by the death of her husband, PT Thomas, with a massive majority because of the support extended by the dissenting faction. “PT Thomas was the only political leader who visited us when we staged a hunger strike earlier. Yesterday, after the police action against us, I called Congress leaders such as KC Venugopal, VD Satheesan, Hibi Eden, TJ Vinod and Roji M John. Do these Congress leaders have any obligation to you despite your support to them? Where is Hibi Eden and TJ Vinod,” he asked.

The priest said Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan also did not issue a statement on the police action. “Even those to whom we give our votes are not with us,” Fr Mundandan, the secretary of the now-frozen Archdiocese Priests Council, said. He declared that it was time for the group to engage in some political bargaining.

Senior priests Fr Varghese Manavalan and Fr Joy Kannampuzha and laity leaders Shaiju Antony, PP Gerard, Riju Kanjookkaran, Grace George and Thankachan Perayil spoke at the meeting.

Ahead of the meeting, the dissenting priests performed the holy mass on the church premises. The priests, including the 21 who stayed put on the premises of the Bishop’s House, performed the mass from the barricaded compound while priests, nuns and hundreds of believers attended the mass standing on the premises of the St Mary’s Cathedral Basilica.

Fr Varghese Cheraparambil led the holy mass. Fr Babu Kalathil addressed the believers during the mass. Fr Rajan Punnnackal, who is among the 21 priests dragged out of the Bishop’s House by the police on Saturday morning, narrated the alleged police excess after the holy mass.

The dissenting priests have decided to remain in the Bishop’s House complex. The dissenting faction has demanded action against ACP Jayakumar, who led the police action, and the cops who allegedly assaulted the priests. They also demanded the ouster of the curia, the administrative body that helps the Church-run efficiently.

Govt a total failure: Hibi Eden
Soon after the priests and the laity raised the criticism, Hibi Eden MP slammed the Left government on the issue. He said the government and the police fired up the dispute. “It is up to the Church to decide on matters of faith. The government or people’s representatives have no role in it. But the maintenance of law and order is totally the government’s responsibility. How the government dealt with the protest at the church headquarters was absolutely wrong. The police did not show any decency in shifting the priests,” the MP said.