The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church will stick to the traditional practice of performing foot-washing on Maundy Thursday on men only with the Vatican exempting it from its decree allowing participation of women in the ritual.
Head of the Syro-Malabar Church Cardinal George Alencherry has issued a circular stating that the Church wished to keep the Eastern tradition and the ritual will be performed only on men.
The ritual is said to have been performed by Jesus as one of His last acts on Earth to His disciples before He was crucified to signify an act of humility.
Last year, Pope Francis had issued a decree changing the way that the Maundy Thursday foot-washing was performed in the Church and said it should no longer be limited to men.
The Vatican decree did not go down well with the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, which comes under the Eastern rites. It sought clarification from the congregation for the Eastern churches in Vatican when the issue came up for a debate. “It was clarified that the decree is meant for the Latin Church only. Both the Decree and the letter of the Holy Father, which prompted it, mention specifically only ‘Roman Missal’.”
“Thus, this change does not concern the liturgical practices in the Eastern Churches,” the circular said.
The Synod of Bishops in the Syro-Malabar Church has decided that the church will wash the feet of only 12 men following the age-old liturgical tradition as the Vatican has exempted Eastern churches, it said. Last year, the Syro-Malabar Church did not follow the Papal decree that women should be included in the foot-washing ceremony.

The Vatican is keen to consider the canonization of 100 Kandhamal martyrs, says Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai and president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC).

“I have personally spoken to Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in the Roman Curia regarding the canonization process of 100 Kandhamal antiChristian persecution and the Vatican is showing greater interest in it,” Cardinal Gracias told Matters in India on Jan. 18.

Now the documentation process and collection of evidences of those killed during the Kandhamal violence would be
strengthened with a formal procedure in the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, Odisha, eastern India, the prelate said.

The cardinal is one of the nine key members of the team that advises Pope Francis on various church matters. He is also the president of Conference of Catholic Bishops of  India-Latin Rite (CCBI). He said he has already requested the head of the Church in Odisha, Divine Word Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack Bhubaneswar, to initiate the process.

The outbreak of anti-Christian violence in 2008 followed the killing of a radical Hindu leader in August 2008 by Maoist rebels. Even though Communists claimed responsibility for the assassination, Hindu groups blamed Christians instead. Christians deny the charge.

The Kandhamal violence that lasted for nearly four months in 2008 claimed more than 100 lives and rendered more than 56,000 people homeless.