Rebel priests in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church have said that they will not cooperate with Mar Joseph Pamplany, the vicar of the Major Archbishop, until the present archdiocesan curia is disbanded.
The rebel priests’ group, Athiroopatha Samrakshana Samithi, said in a statement issued on January 23 that the priests, who were the victims of police action on January 11, had publicly announced only the points of agreement with Archbishop Pamplany.
The rebels’ statement said the chancellor of the archdiocese had issued an official statement claiming that the priests’ point of view, which was made public, was contrary to facts. The chancellor’s statement only helped create misunderstanding among the faithful, claimed senior priest and Samithi spokesman Father Jose Vailikodath.
The rebel priests’ group also claimed that the archdiocesan priests’ council secretary, Father Kuriakose Mundadan, had submitted a letter signed by 428 priests demanding the disbanding of the archdiocesan curia. The letter had been handed over to the vicar and the major archbishop, said the rebel priests’ statement.
The rebels’ statement also reiterated their stand that the group stood for full people-facing Mass, and that no statement from the chancellor would draw the archdiocese away from the full people-facing Mass.
