Syro-Malabar media commission accuses lay people’s group of insulting Church authority

The Syro-Malabar Church Media Commission has slammed the rebel group Almaya Munnettam for allegedly insulting the Church authority and making false claims.

“After having insulted the apostolic administrator appointed by the Pope and flouting his decisions, the false claim that they will become an independent Church under the Pope can be seen only as an elaborate ploy of Almaya Munnettam to deceive the faithful,” it said in a statement on Tuesday. 

It is ironic that even after receiving two letters and a video message from the Pope, these people who defied the authority of the Holy Father and violated the vow of obedience are trying to become an independent Church, under the Pope. The truth is that those who flaunt papal flags and persist in hurting the Pope have no faith in God or moral compunction. The perceptive faithful of the Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly (archdiocese) will see through the façade of these deceptive strategies, the commission said.

The commission also maintained that the rebel leaders “have no commitment to the Church or the Pope” because they were “exhorting to cause division in the Church...”

“In the place of lay leaders of the past who made great sacrifices for the good of the Church, are the new ‘self-styled leaders’ who are eager to weaken and divide the Church by spreading hate propaganda, it concluded.

Almaya Munnettam, meanwhile, accused the commission and the synod of bishops of getting upset over the large turnout of priests and the faithful in the two-day protest. Accusing some bishops of the synod of sabotaging any attempt at a reconciliation, the lay people’s group said there was a ‘Changanassery lobby’ in the synod that was keen to keep the issues unresolved. It also urged the commission chairperson to stay away from the affairs of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese.

The lay people’s group also reiterated its call for turning the archdiocese into an independent Church under the Pope.

Published - October 15, 2024 07:04 pm IST