The Kerala High Court has ordered the state police to provide protection to an archbishop appointed as the administrator of a strife-torn archdiocese in the southern Indian state.
The apex court in Kerala on December 5 ordered police protection for Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, the apostolic administrator of Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese.
The prelate has earlier petitioned the court for protection, claiming that he feared for his life, especially from Father Sebastian Thalian, convener of the Archdiocesan Protection Committee, and Riju Davis, secretary of the Archdiocesan Movement for Transparency (ATM).
The court has sought the reply of the respondents.
Archbishop Thazhath asked the High Court for free access to the Archbishop’s House and the St Marys’ Cathedral Basilica where he is not allowed to enter by priests and laity who are against the synod-approved celebration of the Mass wherein priests have to face the altar half the time.
The priests and the people in the archdiocese, however, want to continue with the mode of the Mass that they have followed for more than six decades wherein the priest faces the congregation throughout.
The court ordered the police to provide protection so that the archbishop could access the Archbishop’s House and the cathedral. It also ordered the police to remove those inside the Archbishop’s House.
The priests and people of the archdiocese have been camping in the Archbishop’s House since November 21.
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