Koovakad is a member of the Eastern rite Church, headquartered in the state’s Ernakulam district. He was among 21 new cardinals created by the Holy See on Dec. 7.
“The Church cannot grow without listening and recognizing the voice of the voiceless and embracing the marginalized and the isolated,” Koovakad said after a reception accorded to him by the synod on Jan. 8.
According to an official statement from the Syro-Malabar Church, he urged the prelates to “keep their eyes and ears open to see and listen to people's problems, pains, and difficulties."
The Church, the cardinal said, should “transform itself as a hospital in the battlefield dressing the wounds of people injured” as exhorted by Pope Francis.
Koovakad’s remarks gain significance as the synod is meeting amid a raging liturgy dispute over the rubrics of Mass in the second-largest Eastern rite Church with 35 dioceses in India and abroad.
The 51-year-old priest's elevation to the rank of cardinal is considered “a global recognition of the Syro-Malabar Church.” Until now, only archbishops have been named cardinals in India.
The Jan. 6-11 Synod is attended by 54 serving and retired bishops.
The synod comes amid opposition from priests and laity in the Church's Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese. They continue to protest the synod-approved Mass, in which the celebrant faces the altar during Eucharistic prayer.
Most of the 480 priests and laity in the archdiocese insist on continuing with their traditional Mass, during which the celebrant faces the congregation throughout.
Koovakad said the synod-approved Mass “is a great opportunity for witness” and stressed the need for “upholding the collective responsibility of the synod undiluted.”
He also emphasized strengthening cooperation between dioceses in the Syro-Malabar Church.
The warring priests and laity in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, the seat of power of the Church’s head, Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, continue to defy the synod's mandate.
The priests and laity held a three-day hunger strike from Jan. 7 to 9 near St Mary’s Cathedral Basilica Church in the Ernakulam district.
Father Joyce Kaithakottil, a rebel priest, led the hunger strike.
As the hunger strike concluded, 21 other priests entered the Archbishop's House and started a sit-in demonstration, defying police requests to move out.
A priest who participated in the protest told UCA News that if the ongoing Synod fails to resolve the issue, the sit-in will be converted to an indefinite hunger strike.
Church’s spokesperson, Father Antony Vadakkekara, told UCA News on Jan. 10 that the synod had already prohibited public demonstrations.
“The Church will take stern action against those who tarnish the Church’s image with such protests,” he said.
The Syro-Malabar is the second-largest Eastern Rite Church with 5 million followers.
The liturgy dispute in the Church is over fifty years old and was revived after the synod, in its August 2021 meeting, ordered all 35 dioceses to adopt its official form of liturgy.
Except for the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, other dioceses have adopted the synod-approved official Mass since November 2021.
The archdiocese, with more than half a million Catholics, is also the biggest diocese of the Church.
The dispute was settled last July, with the priests and laity agreeing to celebrate one official form of Mass on Sundays and feast days. However, the peace was breached within months in October.
The protracted dispute has seen clashes, hunger strikes, the burning of effigies, police cases, and the closure of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Ernakulam.