'Why hobnob with BJP?' Kerala top priest questions Bishops' stance

A resignation letter submitted this week by a senior priest of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese has laid bare the turmoil gripping the Syro-Malabar Church in Kerala. Fr. Augustine Vattoli, known for his outspoken defence of people-oriented liturgy, stepped down on Sunday (September 14) with a blistering critique of bishops, church institutions, and the Synod’s handling of the long-running “Qurbana controversy.”

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His 14-page letter, addressed to Archbishop Joseph Pamplany, the Vatican-appointed administrator of the troubled archdiocese, is more than a personal act of conscience. It is a public indictment of what Vattoli calls “clerical arrogance,” “betrayal of the Gospel,” and a Church leadership obsessed with ritual uniformity while ignoring the cries of the poor.

Dispute on altar stance

“I cannot participate in this betrayal of the Gospel,” Vattoli wrote. “The bishops spend huge amounts on luxury cars, palaces, and foreign trips, while our people struggle to afford education, healthcare, and housing. This contradiction is intolerable.”

He declared that he had never celebrated the compromise version of the liturgy, the “uniform” Mass prescribed by the Syro-Malabar Synod in which the priest turns toward the altar during the Eucharistic prayer. In Kadamakudy parish, where he served, the faithful had reached an understanding to respect both sides of the divide. But Vattoli said he would rather resign than cause division among parishioners.

The trigger came in July when a single parishioner expressed willingness to attend an altar-facing Mass. “It is no longer right to delay,” he said. “Therefore, I resign.”

Flashpoint in liturgy war

Fr. Augustine Vattoli is no stranger to run-ins with the Church hierarchy. Over the years, he has built a reputation as a fearless activist, unafraid to take positions that ruffle clerical feathers. He stood firmly with the nuns who accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of rape, and he was among the whistleblowers who flagged alleged corruption and irregularities in church land deals. These actions earned him disciplinary warnings and deepened his strained ties with the Syro-Malabar leadership. Yet he continues to command support from lay groups pushing for transparency and reform, making his resignation a predictable yet significant flashpoint.

The dispute over the direction a priest should face during Mass (Qurbana) has consumed Kerala’s largest Catholic archdiocese for more than a decade. The Synod and the Vatican insist that uniformity is essential to preserve tradition. But in Ernakulam-Angamaly, which is the heart of Syro-Malabar Christianity and home to nearly half a million faithful, resistance has been fierce.

Most priests and laity there prefer the “people-oriented” liturgy, where the celebrant faces the congregation throughout the service. Protests have paralysed parishes, and clergy have openly defied bishops. At one point, a papal delegate was dispatched to broker peace, but the conflict remains unresolved.

Critique of power and politics

Fr. Vattoli’s letter situates the dispute within a larger critique of the Church. “Nowhere in the Gospels do we see Jesus arguing about whether to face the people or face the altar,” he wrote. “His concern was always the people — their lives, their tears, their liberation.”

The priest’s grievances went well beyond liturgy. In 18 sharply worded points, he accused bishops of authoritarianism, lack of transparency in Church-run institutions, and indifference to social realities, including propagating open communalism and hobnobbing with the BJP.

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“I heard that a senior BJP leader is being invited to inaugurate the new block of Lisie Hospital. I hope this is not true. How can we accept those who spread the politics of hate across society, oppress Adivasis and Dalits, drive Christians and Muslims apart, and make their lives unbearable? Have recent events still not opened our eyes? If not, then somewhere we have gone wrong in our struggles to make the system transparent, democratic, and people-oriented. It is not wise to hand over everything to the leaders of our institutions and remain bound. If we are going astray, we must correct ourselves. If Jesus were here, would He not have turned over the table,” Fr. Vattoli asked.

Erosion of faith and trust

He denounced seminaries for training priests in blind obedience rather than pastoral sensitivity, and warned that the Synod’s obsession with “ritual uniformity” had left the Church morally bankrupt.

“During the COVID pandemic, when humanity trembled and millions died, what was the concern of the Synod? Not the suffering world, not the anguish of families, but only one matter: to impose altar-facing Qurbana,” he wrote.

Fr. Vattoli’s resignation underscores the erosion of trust between clergy, bishops, and lay people in Kerala’s Catholic Church. The Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese, the largest in India, has been in administrative limbo for years. Regular bishops have been sidelined, administrators parachuted in, and police have been called to parishes amid protests.

For many observers, the struggle is no longer about liturgy alone but about governance, democracy, and accountability in one of India’s most influential religious communities.

“The laity, who are the true People of God, are denied a voice in decision-making,” Vattoli said. “We priests, too, are powerless before the Synod.”

Priest frames exit as hope

His words resonate with a growing chorus of clergy and faithful who see the conflict as a symptom of deeper malaise: financial scandals, alienation of youth, declining vocations, and the Church’s waning moral authority in public life.

By resigning, Vattoli says he is not abandoning faith but reclaiming it. He pledged to return only if the Archdiocese officially recognizes the people-oriented Mass as a legitimate variant. Until then, he casts his withdrawal as “an act of hope.”

“This is not despair, but hope,” he wrote. “I believe Jesus walks with the poor, the excluded, the suffering. I believe the Church can still be renewed — not by the power of bishops, but by the courage of people.”

Struggle for church’s soul

“As of now, I am returning to Vathuruthu, my home village in Kochi, where I will stay in a rented house. I will actively pursue the issues raised by the nuns in the aftermath of the bishop rape case, and I will continue to stand with them in their quest for justice,” Fr. Vattoli told The Federal.

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His departure may not resolve the impasse, but it sharpens the questions facing Church leadership. For Kerala’s Catholics, Vattoli’s letter reflects both the anguish of a community torn apart by a liturgical dispute and the frustration of those who see their leaders as out of touch.

The controversy has reached Rome, but its resolution must come from within Kerala. Until then, the Qurbana dispute remains not just a quarrel over ritual, but a struggle for the soul of the Syro-Malabar Church for many.