On Pope Leo’s Desk: The Syro-Malabar ‘liturgy war’
The new pope will have to make a choice about whether to get involved, or not, and how in the roiling conflict. And none of the options are easy or risk-free
When Pope Leo XIV looks at the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, his first thought won’t necessarily be, “Well, here’s a big problem.”
The India-based Eastern Catholic Church is a dynamic part of the global Catholic communion. The roughly five million-strong body has a devout, energetic laity, abundant vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and an increasingly international presence, thanks to migration from its cradle in the southern state of Kerala.
Pope Leo, a U.S.-born Augustinian who served in Peru, will likely appreciate Syro-Malabar Catholics’ missionary spirit. Catholic communities from Chicago to Frankfurt, and from Dubai to Sydney, are benefiting from the presence of Syro-Malabar priests and people.
The new pope also no doubt appreciates the Syro-Malabar Church’s rich history, which dates to the missionary travels of St. Thomas the Apostle and is magnificently expressed in its East Syriac liturgy.
As Pope Leo said in a May 14 address to Eastern Catholics, citing Pope Francis, “the Eastern Churches are to be ‘cherished and esteemed for the unique spiritual and sapiential traditions that they preserve, and for all that they have to say to us about the Christian life, synodality, and the liturgy.’”
Yet the Syro-Malabar Church’s liturgy is not only a source of wonder, but also of deep and bitter division — one that has dragged on for years and included scuffles, boycotts, hunger strikes, special papal envoys, and threats of excommunication and schism.
As the new pope, Leo will have to make a choice about whether to get involved, or not, and how. And none of the options are easy or risk-free.