The parishioners gathered outside the main gates of the parishes in Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese in southern Kerala. They did not allow the administrators, appointed by apostolic administrator Bishop Bosco Puthur, to enter the church premises.
The archdiocese is the seat of Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, the head of the second-largest Eastern Rite Church in India.
The newly appointed administrators came to take charge with police escort on Dec. 3.
Father Kurian Bharanikulangara, appointed to St. Mary's Forane Church in Tripunithura, was prevented from entering its premises.
However, before leaving, the priest stuck a notice outside the church, claiming he had taken charge.
Similar unruly scenes were witnessed in Martin De Porres church in Palarivattom and Velankanni Matha church in Mathanagar.
The parishioners shouted slogans against Puthur, accusing him of creating fresh unrest during the advent season by appointing administrators over parish priests.
The dispute stems from liturgical rubrics. The archdiocesan priests and Catholics refuse to accept the rubrics of the Church's Synod-approved Mass, which asks the celebrant to face the altar during the Eucharistic prayer. They want to continue celebrating Mass with priests facing the congregation throughout the Mass.
Among the 470 priests in the archdiocese, home to more than half a million Eastern Rite Church followers, less than 20 support the Synod-approved rubrics.
The simmering dispute has seen group clashes, court cases, police interventions, the burning of effigies, and the closure of its headquarters, St. Mary’s Basilica, in Ernakulam.
Father Jose Vailikodath, spokesperson of the Archdiocesan Protection Committee, a body of priests, said Bishop Puthur was trying to force them to accept the synod-approved Mass.
The action of the apostolic administrator “violated provisions of civil and canon laws,” he added.
Vailikodath also blamed Major Archbishop Thattil for the current fiasco.
“They [Thattil and Putur] are trying to take over the parishes through force,” the priest claimed.
The parishioners have challenged the latest appointments of administrators in a local court.
"We have approached the civil court," said Riju Kanjookaran, spokesperson of the Archdiocesan Movement for Transparency. This body of priests, religious, and laity has been spearheading the protests against the implementation of the uniform mode of Mass since 2021.
“The faithful will not accept the administrators trying to implement the disputed Mass," he added.
The dissenting priests also refused to accept the annual diary from the Archbishop’s House as they continued with their boycott of Puthur and his curia.
Though the liturgy dispute is over five decades old, it was revived in August 2021 when the Synod of Bishops, the top decision-making body of the Syro-Malabar Church, ordered its 35 dioceses in India and abroad to adopt the uniform mode of Mass for greater unity.
Barring the Ernakulum-Angamaly archdiocese, others complied with the order effective November of that year.
Archdiocesan officials, including Puthur, did not respond to calls.