The special court is to hear cases of rebellious clerics in particular in the dispute over the liturgy of the South Indian Catholic Eastern Church, announced the media commission of the Syro-Malabar Church on Friday with.
The reason given for the institution is the continuing resistance to the introduction of a standardised form of mass celebration.
"The persistent indiscipline has led to discord among the faithful and unrest in the community, which made the establishment of this special court necessary," the statement said.
Ecclesiastical courts are usually set up at diocesan level.
According to the Apostolic Administrator of the Grand Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, Bosco Puthur, however, this is not appropriate.
The protests against the liturgical reform are mainly focussed on the major archdiocese itself.
For this reason, Grand Archbishop Raphael Thattil has set up the special court at the highest level of the Syro-Malabar Church with the authorisation of the competent Vatican authority.
The court is authorised to take canonical measures in accordance with the general law of the Eastern Catholic Church and the Syro-Malabar Church against priests, religious and lay people within the Grand Archdiocese who are guilty of misconduct.
Three judges and other court personnel have already been appointed and sworn in as members of the court.
All attempts at mediation in vain
A dispute over the order of worship has been smouldering in the Syro-Malabar church for years.
The new form of liturgy was decided by the synod, the church's highest decision-making body, in 2021.
While the majority of the Eastern Catholic Church has adopted a reform of the Mass, clergy and laity are protesting in the central Grand Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly in the Indian state of Kerala.
All attempts at mediation - including even by Pope Francis himself - have so far failed.
Most recently, opponents of the reform announced a announced a financial boycott and and have considered the foundation of a Catholic Eastern Church independent of the mother church. independent of the mother church.
The Syro-Malabar Church in south-west India is the largest of today's churches and communities of St Thomas Christians, which is said to have been founded in the 1st century by the Apostle Thomas during his missionary journeys.
Through links with the Assyrian Church of the East, it celebrates its liturgy in the East Syriac rite.
In the course of its history, there have been repeated colonialist influences, which led to the adoption of Western Church liturgical elements.