Kerala church sees parish members perform their own seventh-day mass

A church in Kerala’s Thrissur district on Sunday witnessed an unusual protest with members of the parish performing their own seventh-day mass.

This was a tit-for-tat protest against the vicar, who allegedly conducted the funeral mass, assuming all the parish members to be dead.

The bizarre incident happened at The Little Flower Church at Poomala near Wadakkanchery in Thrissur.

What led to the symbolic protests between Vicar Fr Koreth Joyson and members of the parish was the dispute over the alleged financial irregularities in the renovation of the church.

After the church was renovated recently, a section of parish members alleged serious irregularities like awarding works without calling tenders.

They raised questions on the construction materials and old wood materials that went missing, besides flaying the delay in completing the construction works.

A section of parish members had formed a church protection action council and launched a stir in January raising various demands including the installation of CCTV cameras at the church premise.

They kept flex boards in front of the church, listing their demands on it. All these incidents exacerbated the friction between the parish members and the vicar.

Action council leader Prakash John said the vicar conducted a funeral mass after assuming all parish members to be dead on May 28, which is the Day of Pentecost.

The vicar justified his action and said he considered all parish members to be dead as no one came out in his support after flex boards were put up against him in front of the church.

As a mark of protest, the action council organised a symbolic mass in front of the church on Sunday to observe their seventh-day mass. Parish members, including women, took part in the protest in which two members dressed up like corpses with a cloth tied around their heads and chin. Meanwhile, both Koreth Joyson and parish members have filed police complaints against each other. Some members are also planning to file complaints with the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights accusing the vicar of harassing children.