{"id":59582,"date":"2022-03-21T02:58:10","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T07:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=59582"},"modified":"2022-03-24T15:58:06","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T20:58:06","slug":"versus-populum-in-the-syro-malabar-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/21\/versus-populum-in-the-syro-malabar-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Versus Populum in the Syro-Malabar Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

It feels a little strange to write my fourth post on this matter (see here<\/a>, here<\/a> and here<\/a> ). But problems with the orientation of the priest as he presides the Eucharist continues to be a issue in the Syro-Malabar Church.<\/p>\n

Last Thursday some disgruntled members of the faithful of the Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly burnt effigies of Cardinal Mar George Alencherry and Cardinal Leonardo Sandri outside a pastoral center in Kochi. Photos of the protest have apparently become widespread on social media of some members of the Syro-Malabar Church (pictures can be seen here<\/a>)<\/p>\n

These events were preceded by a meeting of the Archeparchy\u2019s clergy with 316 priests in attendance. This was a high percentage of the priests, Wikipedia lists 451 priests in the Archeparchy. These passed a motion requesting a further dispensation allowing the priests of the diocese to continue celebrating the Eucharist fully versus populum<\/em>. This was rejected in line with a February 28 letter from Cardinal Sandri that revoked<\/a> a previous dispensation.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, the official Syro-Malabar Church was not at all pleased at the burning of effigies and condemned<\/a> the protest.<\/p>\n

On one level I feel that I am not qualified to comment on this matter (and in no way do I propose that liturgical controversies be resolved by burning effigies of Cardinals or anyone else). When it comes to the Eastern Rites I am an armchair liturgist. I did an MTh in liturgical theology at St. Vladimir\u2019s Seminary in NY, but I am a Western priest who always celebrated with the current edition of the Roman Missal<\/em>.\u00a0 I have attended various Eastern liturgies and am struck by the beauty that is there. I was also profoundly struck by the work of Fr. Alexander Schmemann in St. Vladimir\u2019s where his presence continues to be felt. On another level however, I consider that these are important issues that the Church, both East and West, needs to reflect on. That is why I am posting on this matter.<\/p>\n

Basically, there are two factors at play here and I think it is important to consider both.\u00a0 On one level there is the current desire of Rome to respect the liturgical traditions and patrimony of the Christian East. Number 6 of Vatican II\u2019s Orientalium Ecclesiarum<\/a><\/em>, the Decree on the Catholic Churches of the Eastern Rite clearly annunciates this principle:<\/p>\n

All members of the Eastern Rite should know and be convinced that they can and should always preserve their legitimate liturgical rite and their established way of life, and that these may not be altered except to obtain for themselves an organic improvement. All these, then, must be observed by the members of the Eastern rites themselves. Besides, they should attain to an ever greater knowledge and a more exact use of them, and, if in their regard they have fallen short owing to contingencies of times and persons, they should take steps to return to their ancestral traditions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Recently, speaking about Eastern Rites in general, Cardinal Sandri, encouraged<\/a> Eastern Catholics \u201cto avoid solitary escapes in pursuit of reforms that do not take into account the heritage shared with the Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, while ecumenism must be a priority for all Christians, it is unlikely that Catholics will reestablish communion with the Eastern Churches in the near future no matter how closely we keep our liturgical practices. Unfortunately, ecumenism is currently an area that is a minefield of different considerations. In times past, undoubtedly the Catholic Church was guilty of a forced Latinization of Eastern Catholics. However, the Eastern Rites are not more perfect than the Western. It is not the case that Eastern traditions are automatically older or more authentic than Western traditions. Despite what may have happened in prior ages, objectively speaking just as the West can and should learn from the East, so should the East learn from the West. Additionally the Eastern rites are not static. Unlike the centralized Western rites, their liturgical development is more a bottom to top phenomenon. Changes happen over time and are gradually adopted and become normal and official as a recognition of what has happened.<\/p>\n

So Eastern Catholics cannot be held hostage to Orthodox or Oriental Orthodox liturgical norms. \u00a0The principle of\u00a0Orientalium Ecclesiarum<\/i> and respect for other Eastern Christians is important. \u00a0But the pastoral good and the growth of a genuine Christian spirit that can face the challenges of today’s world and can express the Faith in a way that relates to people today is also a vital principle that ought also to be considered. This balance isn’t easy and there will be trial and error, but the questions must be confronted.<\/p>\n

The Syro-Malabar Christians started celebrating versus populum<\/em> in the wake of Vatican II. Initially this probably mimicked Christians of the Roman Rite whose liturgical books were revised before the Syro-Malabar books were revised.\u00a0 Now a generation or two later, it might be a little too late to put the genie back into the bottle.\u00a0 Moreover, unlike the Catholic Churches that use the Byzantine rite, the Syro-Malabar Church does not have an exact equivalent among the non-Catholic Churches that use an East Syriac rite. So the question is, given that millions of Syro-Malabar Christians find versus populum<\/em> presiding of the Eucharist to be a spiritually beneficial practice, then why oughtn\u2019t it be allowed as an option?<\/p>\n

Prior to the twentieth century celebrating versus populum <\/em>was not a particularly Western liturgical practice. Both East and West prayed ad orientem<\/em> for most of Christian history. In the West after Vatican II a monumental decision was made to allow versus populum<\/em>. This wasn\u2019t a particularly Western tradition or a renewal of an earlier liturgical practice. It was a big change that simply made sense for the situation today. Facing a secularized society which suffered from a loss of the sense of the sacred, pastors and liturgists thought that allowing people to see the celebration better would have the potential of increasing active participation in the liturgy. \u00a0Admittedly, this doesn’t always work and there is a danger of the liturgy becoming a closed circle or too focussed on the person of the priest. \u00a0However, the vast majority of Roman Catholics have found this to be a beneficial practice.<\/p>\n

So the question that should be considered today is whether the Christian East is facing similar challenges and similar secularization? If so, then maybe they should consider a similarly radical renewal.<\/p>\n

Cover image under a creative commons license is Guy Fawkes\u2019 bonfire, Carshalton Park cc-by-sa\/2.0<\/a>\u00a0– \u00a9\u00a0Christopher Hilton<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0geograph.org.uk\/p\/2681900<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It feels a little strange to write my fourth post on this matter (see here, here and here ). But problems with the orientation of the priest as he presides the Eucharist continues to be a issue in the Syro-Malabar Church. 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Since 2020 he has also served as the Executive Secretary for Liturgy to the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference. He has studied at Seton Hall University (BA, MDiv), the University of Notre Dame (MA), and St Vladimir\u2019s Orthodox Theological Seminary (MTh). He holds a Doctorate in Theology (Ph.D.) from St Patrick\u2019s College, Maynooth and is in the process of completing a second doctorate (D.D) in the Pontifical Facultad de Teolog\u00eda Redemptoris Mater in Callao, Peru. Neil has published a translation of the Confessio of St. Patrick: St. Patrick: His Confession and Other Works (Totowa, NJ, 2009), as well editing the third edition of Fredrick Edward Warren\u2019s The Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church (Piscataway, NJ, 2010). In 2011 the University of Notre Dame Press published The Eucharist in Pre-Norman Ireland an adaptation of his doctoral thesis and in 2017 the Alcuin Club published his Liturgical Orientation: The Position of the President at the Eucharist. 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Neil Xavier O'Donoghue","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2024_09_NeiL_Portrait-96x96.jpeg?crop=1","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2024_09_NeiL_Portrait-96x96.jpeg?crop=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2024_09_NeiL_Portrait-96x96.jpeg?crop=1","caption":"Fr. Neil Xavier O'Donoghue"},"description":"Neil Xavier O\u2019Donoghue is originally from Cork, Ireland. He is a presbyter of the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ who has ministered in parishes on both sides of the Atlantic. He has spent many years as an academic mentor to seminarians. Neil currently serves as Programme Director for Liturgical Programmes at the Pontifical University and as Acting Director of the National Centre for Liturgy. Since 2020 he has also served as the Executive Secretary for Liturgy to the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference. He has studied at Seton Hall University (BA, MDiv), the University of Notre Dame (MA), and St Vladimir\u2019s Orthodox Theological Seminary (MTh). He holds a Doctorate in Theology (Ph.D.) from St Patrick\u2019s College, Maynooth and is in the process of completing a second doctorate (D.D) in the Pontifical Facultad de Teolog\u00eda Redemptoris Mater in Callao, Peru. Neil has published a translation of the Confessio of St. Patrick: St. Patrick: His Confession and Other Works (Totowa, NJ, 2009), as well editing the third edition of Fredrick Edward Warren\u2019s The Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church (Piscataway, NJ, 2010). In 2011 the University of Notre Dame Press published The Eucharist in Pre-Norman Ireland an adaptation of his doctoral thesis and in 2017 the Alcuin Club published his Liturgical Orientation: The Position of the President at the Eucharist. His articles have appeared in The Irish Theological Quarterly, New Blackfriars, The Furrow and Antiphon. He writes a monthly article on some aspect of the theology of Pope Francis in the Messenger of St. Anthony and blogs regularly at PrayTell.","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/author\/nxodonoghue\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Guy-Fawkes.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59582"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59629,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59582\/revisions\/59629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}