Modern section against traditional Christian religious leaders in Kerala

Modern section against traditional Christian religious leaders in Kerala: Violent controversy over where the priest should pray; 35 churches closed

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 10:13 AM (IST)
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Modern section against traditional Christian religious leaders in Kerala

The Roman Catholic Church in Kerala is divided into a Sunday practice of Holy Mass. Violent protests from several Christian organizations have been so strong that 35 churches have been closed. Police have been deployed outside these. Police say churches will be opened for prayers only after peace is restored.
In fact, the Christian community believes that God created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th day. Similarly, Christians also worship Jesus Christ on Sunday. This worship is called Holi month. Syro Malabar, the local wing of the Roman Catholic Church, has issued instructions that priests and devotees should face east during its practice, but modern Catholic Christians in Kerala claim that this is not written anywhere. Due to this, the followers can neither see nor communicate with the priest. They claim that we see the priest as God. It is not right that God does not look at us.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, which implements the new instruction, is about 2 thousand years old. It is considered to be the oldest church in Kerala. But the violent protests against its new directive show that the Church's credibility is at stake. If this instruction is not followed, the supremacy of the Church may move towards destruction.
Syro Malabar is forced before the Supreme Council of the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, the Supreme Council itself had issued the new directive. It is the responsibility of the regional units to implement it. In such a situation, Siro is caught in the Malabar crisis. On one hand, people are protesting, on the other hand, there is pressure to implement the order.
According to experts in the Christian community, the rule says that during prayer, the priest should look at the followers half the time. The rest of the time one should look towards the east. However, Modern Christians refuse to accept this as well. He says that the practice that has been going on for 50 years will continue.
The Almaya Munnettam organization says that we had taken permission from Pope Francis to pray only by looking at the people in our church. But now we are being pressurized to accept the new order. At the same time, he warned that if this order was not withdrawn, the Roman Catholic Church would have to face serious consequences.

Muskan Kumawat Journalist & Writer