Six prominent Catholic women leaders have written to the Syro-Malabar Church expressing their “heart-felt pain” at the “unacceptable” developments in the Church, which has not only affected the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese but also other sections in the Catholic Church as ordinary people are unable to distinguish between rites and diocesan divisions.
They said the incidents on December 23 and 24 in which the holy sacraments were abused during the unsavoury incidents at the St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica deeply hurt the spiritual beliefs and sense of dedication of the faithful. The incidents have been condemned by women and mothers, irrespective of their rites.
Despite the abuse of the holy sacraments, the source of strength for the Church, the bishops appear helpless. These are among the causes of more and more young people leaving the Church, the leaders said. The lack of unity among the Church leadership and their inability to accept differences are other causes of loss of faith among the youth.
Bishops should take immediate steps to heal the wounds suffered by the faithful and set an example. Lay people, priests, and the Synod must join hands to find a means of reconciliation. A decision taken by them does not need any intervention from Rome or the apostolic nuncio, the leaders said. They added that they prayed for Jesus to guide the Church leadership to listen to views and suggestions from all quarters and accept everyone in the Synodal spirit.
The letter was signed by Lida Jacob, a retired IAS officer; Jancy James, former Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University and Central University of Kerala; Monamma Kokkad, former member of the State Women’s Commission; Mary Matilda, former Principal of Maharaja’s College; Neena Joseph, former faculty member, IMG, and Beena Sebastian, former secretary, KCBC Women’s Commission.