The story so far: There is an ongoing dispute in the Syro-Malabar Church, which is part of the universal Catholic Church, over the way the Mass is celebrated. The row is mostly centred around the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church headquartered in Kochi, Kerala. The differences over the system of Mass celebration emerged prominently after the synod of bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church issued a diktat in August last year that all the dioceses -- there are 36 of them in Kerala -- of the Syro-Malabar Church should celebrate the Mass in a uniform way.
However, its diktat triggered a bitter stand-off between those who wanted the existing system to continue and those who faithfully switched over to the unified system as decreed by the synod.
