en.news
62K

Sixty Years Too Late: Priests Fight for „Facing People”

All (!) 456 priests of the Syro-Malabar Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, wrote an August 10 letter to Francis saying they want to continue offering Mass toward the people, an abuse introduced only 50 years ago.

The Syro-Malabar, using the East Syriac Rite, are the second largest Oriental Catholic Church based in Kerala, India. Presently, they follow two different modes of celebrating Mass. In one, the priest faces the faithful, in the other he faces sometimes God and sometimes the faithful.

An August 16-24 virtual synod is expected to introduce the second as „uniform mode of celebrating Mass.” It has Francis' official support.

However, Father Kuriakose Mundadan, the archdiocese's presbyteral council secretary, believes that “the mind of Francis does not want to impose the uniform mode celebration in all dioceses” as this “will create conflict over unity” (MattersIndia.com, August 12). For Mundadan „our situation is not all ready for a 50-50 formula of celebrating the Mass.”

This conflict started in the 1970s when the bishops began fiddling around with the liturgy after Vatican II, causing a liturgical war with one group wanting to restore the liturgy to its original purity while others opting for „modern” changes.

#newsXbwmrcopyl

  • Report

  • Social media

  • Change post

  • Remove post

en.news links to this post
Prayhard
  • Report

  • Change comment

  • Remove comment

Not entirely as an Anglican altar table is generally ad orientem, and there's usually altar rails in front. If a modern looking church has altar rails and a Catholic looking altar, it is usually Anglican, Lutheran or Episcopalian. V2 was a crime.
John A Cassani
  • Report

  • Change comment

  • Remove comment

I have much more experience with their sister-Rite, the Maronites, who also adopted the option of versus populum following the almighty council. Modern Maronite churches are as ugly as the average modern Latin church. The Byzantine Catholic Rites haven’t destroyed their liturgies to the extent that the Syriacs have, but I don’t see them as any sort of refuge for Trads.
Scapular
  • Report

  • Change comment

  • Remove comment

When taking a bus ride I’m always comfortable when I see the back of the driver. I have that certainty that we are traveling in the same direction with the drivers eyes fixed on a destination, we have a shared mental model and we follow. But when he turns to face us pilgrims all hell is let loose! Of course at Holy Mass we are on a spiritual journey towards the Heavenly Jerusalem (Our Lord in the …More
When taking a bus ride I’m always comfortable when I see the back of the driver. I have that certainty that we are traveling in the same direction with the drivers eyes fixed on a destination, we have a shared mental model and we follow. But when he turns to face us pilgrims all hell is let loose! Of course at Holy Mass we are on a spiritual journey towards the Heavenly Jerusalem (Our Lord in the Tabernacle) and the Alter Christus with the correct orientation (East / Oriental ) is leading us to our eternal home. Our purpose and life long adventure is to get home and without a leader to follow we are lost.
philosopher
  • Report

  • Change comment

  • Remove comment

Ad populum is Protestant and ad orientum is Catholic!
Prayhard
  • Report

  • Change comment

  • Remove comment

The Protestant church, the older ones at least, will typically have the altar table against the wall, and there would be altar rails. A V2 church looks like a low energy lib Protestant shrine to wokery that no one goes to.
Dr Bobus
  • Report

  • Change comment

  • Remove comment

OrientEm 3rd declension
Login
Create accountForgot password?